


Light and Shadow

by Garrek



Category: DCU, Naruto, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 12:41:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 221,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16516706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garrek/pseuds/Garrek
Summary: The Fourth Ninja War is over. Heartbroken from tragedy, Naruto finds himself selected to be a Green Lantern. With Kurama as his guide, Naruto embarks on his newest adventure. One bigger then he could ever imagine. M for Violence, Language, possible suggestive themes. Possible Lemon. Unsure. Rating for safety. SM/WW included.





	1. Fall into the Lost World

**Kurama talking/ Doctor Fate talk**

_Thoughts of Characters_

_**Demon Thinking/ Doctor Fate thinking** _

_**Emphasis** _

**Kyuubi's Thoughts**

**Chapter 1**

Chapter 1: Fall to the Lost World

Sector 2813. Neighboring sector to 2814. Once upon a time it was known to hold the planet Krypton in the Rao system before it was destroyed. The same planet that gave wind to Superman being on Earth. With its destruction it seemed that not much else except your usual trouble happened in this sector of the universe unless it involved its adjoined neighbor or some big bad trying to destroy the universe.

"Save for one planet it seems." he thought.

The planet named Ajnin

These were the thoughts of green lantern Tomar-Re as he lay dying in a forest, with a gaping wound on his ribcage laying on his back looking at the night sky. The Xudarian was finishing his usual patrol around his sector heading to the planet in question. As he headed in its direction however, he was soon attacked by a man with a familiar face. A face belonging to the protege of his close friend Abin Sur. The rogue lantern Sinestro.

Sinestro had once been known to be Tomar's friend as well as comrade in arms until his betrayal. Tomar's mind recalled the events that lead to his fate.

**(Above Ajnin's atmosphere one hour ago)**

Tomar-Re. Honor Guard of the Green Lantern Core was finishing his usual patrol of his sector before returning to Oa when he saw a flash of yellow appear above the far planet in the Aku system. Tomar-Re flew toward it to investigate.

Tomar-Re could not believe his eyes when he saw Sinestro floating above Ajnin, his arms crossed behind his back, gazing upon the planet as if it were a new favorite toy.

The former green lantern hovered using his trademark yellow power ring, for he now wore a yellow mockery of the green lantern uniform. Since betraying his fellow lanterns, Sinestro had formed his own Sinestro corp and been steadily recruiting for it by supplying yellow power rings that could detect those that have the ability to instill fear much as green lantern rings could detect those who could overcome it. However, their numbers were still far and in between. Also, the Sinestro Corps were forced to look for recruits on their own since they had yet to acquire a means to guide their rings to selected recruits.

Though why would Sinestro come to this planet Tomar-Re did not know. But he was about to find out.

Flying from behind Sinestro, Tomar aimed his ring at Sinestro, prepared to fire.

"Turn around Sinestro!" he yelled.

Sinestro turned around slowly, a smirk on his face as he saw the Lantern who yelled at him.

"Tomar, it has been sometime." said Sinestro.

"Hands where I can see them, you're under arrest." Tomar responded, ring hand still trained on Sinestro. Glowing and ready to fire.

Sinestro just shrugged his shoulders with a smile, staying as he was. "Is that anyway to greet an old friend and comrade?" his asked sarcastically.

"Like you have any right to say that after all the green lanterns you've killed?" Tomar-Re responded angrily, about ready to fire his ring.

Sinestro just ignored his threat and continued "You know for once Tomar, you and I have actually made the same mistake, or rather the Guardians and I have made the same mistake" he turned his head back to the planet behind him "We all assumed that aside from Krypton, there was nothing remarkable about this sector. Until I began to take notice of this planet."

"What are you on about? Ajnin is basically the same as Earth. Both in the planet's ecology and its people's biology." said Tomar-Re, confused as to why Sinestro was explaining something that they both already knew themselves.

Now did he think about it, why was Sinestro himself here for a recruitment mission?

Before he knew however, he found his arms and legs bound in a yellow construct version of an alien rack, his wrist's and ankles chained.

_'He lured me into a trap! Idiot!'_  thought Tomar as Sinestro raised his ring hand, held in a fist, pulling upon his construct so it floated nearer to him until they were inches apart.

"Now that I have your full attention," Sinestro began in his infamously arrogant tone, as if talking to an ignorant child "While on the surface this race may seem identical to humans, there is one key difference." he turned his head to the planet below.

"Down there, beneath yours' and the guardians' notice, the people of that planet have harnessed a power to rival that of the Lantern corps themselves!" he explained excitedly "That will power will belong to me and the Sinestro Corps!" he continued.

Tomar-Re eyes grew wide at Sinestro's claim. Had he been that ignorant? Had he not seen that down on this planet that there could be a possibility of another source out in the universe that could rival the Green Lantern corps?

_'No.'_  he thought as he remembered Sinestro's words 'He said 'lantern corps' as in all the lantern corps!' he realized.

Sinestro recomposed himself. "A shame you will not live to see it," he spoke calmly as he created a cutlass sword, poised himself and lunged at Tomar-Re.

Tomar mustered all his willpower into his ring and managed to free his right arm, his ring arm, and created a shield at the last instant to keep the blade from stabbing into his chest. With Sinestro surprised, his broke the rest of his limbs from the rack construct, created his own gauntlet construct upon his left hand and punched Sinestro in the face. With him reeling from the punch, Tomar pressed his attack changing his gauntlet to a proton grenade and threw at Sinestro hoping to destroy him once and for all with a surprise attack.

However, Sinestro recovered from the punch just in time to see the grenade coming a put a shield with what looked like reinforced plating around himself as the grenade struck his shield and exploded with massive force. When the smoke cleared, Sinestro was still there with his shield and a smile on his face.

"Can't use my own trick against me Tomar!" he yelled.

Or rather where he was as Sinestro looked around to no longer see Tomar in his previous spot. He looked around only to find Tomar below him, with an energy cannon ready to fire. This time, Sinestro was prepared. He disengaged his shield and created a large broadsword and flew at Tomar-Re in a zig-zag formation so Tomar couldn't target him with his cannon, flew under until he was practically in front of him. Gripping the sword in both hands he brought down upon him with as much force as he could.

Tomar barely had time to react before he changed his cannon into a longsword and block Sinestro's downward swing. Their blades locked briefly with Sinestro trying to overpower Tomar with him towering over his enemy with his superior height . Tomar soon realized this and disengaged then went on the attack with a side swipe which Sinestro distanced himself from. The two then swung their blades at each other in different arcs their blades making sparks with each clash of energized blades. One made from fear the other will.

But Sinestro was still the better in close range combat. Tomar knew that as soon as Sinestro shattered his sword construct. He fired a few blasts from his ring but Sinestro quick made a shield and deflected the attacks and threw it at Tomar-Re, hitting him in the stomach and sending him flying toward Ajnin's atmosphere. Tomar managed to stop himself but didn't recover fast enough to avoid Sinestro stabbing him in the chest right beside the sternum with a short sword construct. The intense pain from the blade's edge and dark purple blood gasping from his mouth told him what he needed to know.

The wound was fatal.

Surprisingly, Sinestro seemed almost solemn as he looked upon his former friend keeling over.

"For what its worth Tomar, part of me wishes it hadn't come to this. You were one of the best Green Lanterns next to myself." he said as he looked at Tomar-Re breathing his few remaining breaths. "But you you never understood. The universe needs fear to bring order to it. This world will provide me the means to instill that order. That is what Hal Jordan never understood. That is what the Guardians never understood." he said. Speaking as if to a captive and obedient audience

"F-First of all, I am sick of hearing about your brand of order." said Tomar-Re as rose his head to meet Sinestro's gaze, coughing up more blood as he spoke. Then with the last of his strength slammed a green construct on Sinestro's chest "Second, Hal Jordan sends his regards." he stated. Since it was talking with Hal that gave him the idea.

Which Sinestro just realized as looked at the green device on his chest firing what appeared to be a small rocket. The next thing he knew it was flying across space from the rocket's propulsion. The initial blast however sent Tomar falling toward Ajnin's surface at a pace that could not allow him to stop in his condition. He was able to use the ring to help him survive through the atmosphere but that was it.

Soon passing it he looked from the corner of his eye and saw he was rapidly approaching what appeared to be a forest. He then crashed into the ground, the impact forcing him up then landing again skidding upon the ground before stopping on his back.

**(Present time)**

He had since been falling in and out of conscious ever since, his wound bleeding out. He knew he was dying. He needed to three things before he was put in forever sleep as some people called it.

Tomar-Re barely managed to raise his ring arm to create a message to Oa as Abin Sur had. "This Tomar-Re of Sector 2814. I've encountered Sinestro, suffered heavy wounds. I'm bleeding out...dying.

I-If you receive this message, I've made arrangements for my family...my will and testament are in my quarters. This message will be sent along with the new recruit who receives my ring and battery..." he took laboring breaths as he tried to continue. "Sinestro was looking for something on this world. It is called Ajnin in the Aku system. I believe he was looking for new recruits, ones who had powers additional to the rings. This pla...(cough) planet has something he wants" he wheezed coughing up blood. "I only hope that we find it first" he finished with a final statement "Please...tell my son that I died with honor...and that I always loved him"

He ended what would be his final log entry to his ring. Then he raised his arm to the sky, his hand clinched into a fist and sent the beacon to Oa. He hoped they would find it in time. He also managed, with the last of his strength to summon his battery from the pocket dimension he had set up in this system. The small black hole opened and the battery materialized right next to his body.

'There goes the easy part' he thought as he then looked at his ring.

"Go...choose well" he whispered with his breathing getting more and more difficult.

It was then that the ring left his hand and flew into the sky searching for its next user. Little did he or how anyone else would know how these events would shape the very future of this world and others.

For the ring chooses the wielder who has the ability to overcome fear. And there is one here on the planet Ajnin who could overcome fear better than all those who had come before this ring bearer. One who could change the balance of power. One who would join not just the Green Lantern Corps but also join others as well in the battle against fear.

He just didn't know that he had been chosen yet.


	2. The Chosen Bearer

The Fourth Great Ninja War was over. In difference to the others before it, this one was the shortest. Only lasting three days. Madara Uchiha was dead, this time forever. Kabuto had been trapped in an endless genjutsu loop and his army at rest and at peace. Obito Uchiha had redeemed himself in the eyes of Konoha and Kakashi. Above all, Kaguya, the Goddess and Progenitor of all Chakra, and Black Zetsu, her immortal servant were sealed away, unable to trouble the world again.

In the site of the soon to be rebuilt Konoha, it was a time of celebration as the ninja army rejoiced over the end of this bloody conflict. This was not just an event for the villagers of Konoha, but for all the ninja villages. Lovers reunited, new bonds of friendship forged, and camaraderie proven.

Those that celebrated knew in the back of their minds that this was not just about a war's end or their survival to see that victory. They also knew that on this day the world had changed forever. No longer where there separate ninja nations any longer. With this war, they realized that what happened in the past between them was behind them. Old wounds healed. Scars faded. A long lasting era of peace and unity was soon to be upon them.

Though it was not without a price. Many had died in the great ninja army. Those that had fallen were held a memorial service days before. Many of those that lived would return to their villages to bury and mourn their dead.

These were the thoughts running through his mind. For you see, three people were not among the fellow ninja celebrating tonight.

Two were dead.

The third was sitting on the Hokage Monument, the one thing that was not destroyed during Pain's attack. His clothes were still tattered from his battle with his former best friend with his head band in his left hand while his right hand and arm was mostly recovered from the final blow. His name was Naruto Uzumaki. Many in the new ninja world looked to him as their hero, their savior. Though knowing their own battles and victories in this war, they saw him as their beacon of hope.

 _'If only they could see me now.'_  he thought looking upon the masses below.

Looking down at what would be Konoha again, to the masses who were at the moment drinking, dancing, laughing, talking about what would come the next morning, some he could even see grieving for the loss of loved ones, Naruto looked most of all at his friends. How the Konoha Seven were interacting with each other and with the sand villagers. Especially the sand siblings. Or in Shikamaru's case Temari. How Shikamaru was trying to handle casualty and troop reports when Temari finally got him away from it to dance with her. Lee was trying to get past a wheelchair-bound Gai-Sensei for his "first" taste of sake.

Neji, in a rare bit of emotion, hugged Tenten after the war's end. A hug she received with a glowing face.

Naruto allowed himself a small smile at scenes below him. Happy that his friends were free to enjoy themselves after the war. Enjoyment that he himself would never have.

The small smile faded at the thought. Until he heard his now complete partner speak.

 **'It doesn't have to be that way.'**  a voice reverberated in his mind. That got Naruto's attention.

 _'I thought you were sleeping Kurama.'_  said Naruto.

 **'I have been awake for a while now thank you. I just decided to keep silent until I heard what you were thinking.'** Kurama responded.

 _'I thought you stopped looking into my head fox.'_ said Naruto, little pissed that Kurama was checking in on his thoughts...again.

 **'Can't help it when you're projecting so loudly in here Kid.'**  said Kurama chuckling a bit at Naruto's frustration but quickly becoming serious again.

Since the battle with Sasuke ended, Kurama had been silent. Keeping his voice unheard as the emotional turmoil of his host had reached its boiling point.

Immediately after Kaguya Otsutsuki had been sealed and the Tailed Beasts liberated, Sasuke had decided to make himself priority one again. Itachi's proclamation of love to his little brother or their alliance and shared power did not seem to affect the decision Sasuke made to try and take control of the power of the Tailed Beasts for his own and issue in his own way of making peace by killing the Kage's and making an empire of his own. Which lead Naruto and Sakura to follow him Valley of the End, and their ultimate fate.

Sakura went in first to try and reason with him to make him see his folly. Instead Sasuke was deaf to her pleas and her declaration of love once more. So she tried to fight him alone to spare Naruto further pain.

That's when it all went wrong. For soon Naruto found out from Kurama where Sakura was. Knowing that while Sakura was a strong kunoichi that was at least on Tsunade's level he knew in his heart that even if she wanted to she could not defeat Sasuke with his newly acquired Rinnegan eye.

So he followed her as he always did.

**(Flashback)**

It was night. It was raining. It seemed to always rain after battles in the Valley of the End. Or rather, what was left of it. The fight that had taken place had left another scar on the land much like the first battle that had formed it so long ago.

Naruto, bruised and bleeding from the wounds he suffered, especially to his right arm, looked down at the corpse of his now former best friend as he sunk into the water. Even after what he had done, it gave him no satisfaction to see him sink. In a way, it symbolized the end result that Naruto, deep down in his heart, knew would happen. He had simply never acknowledged it until this very moment.

Turning away from Sasuke's sinking corpse, he looked at the body that he held in his arms even with the right one in pain. The adrenaline wears off, and the anger fades as he looks down at Sakura's body her eyes closed never to open again. He comes to the realization. Sakura Haruno, the girl he loved, was dead.

The tears start pouring he walks from the river to the riverside, where he kneels near collapsing from the shear weight of what had happened. Tears mingled with rain. No loud yell of rage as he just cradles her body. Him shaking while the tears pour down his face as Tsunade and Shizune arrive.

**(End Flashback)**

**'What happened to her was tragic, but take this to heart Naruto, it was not your fault.'**  Kurama's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts.

 _'How is it not? I couldn't see what everyone else had shown right in front of their faces!' Naruto mentally s_ houted _. 'How come it took Sakura dying to make me see that there was no other way to stop him? Deep down I knew that the only way to end this was one of us to kill the other yet I still...'_

 **'You still hoped you could change him.'** Kurama said as Naruto's mental rant halted for a moment. ' **You would not be who you are if you didn't try. Some people just can't be saved, not even by you.'** he continued mournfully.

Naruto was about to respond when he heard footsteps behind him, stood up and turned to see Tsunade without a bottle of sake in hand for the first time since the celebrations started. Eyes widened, Naruto turned away from her, tears about to come out again. He couldn't face her. Sakura was her student, nearly a daughter to her.

Tsunade knew what Naruto was doing up on the Hokage monument. So she made the trip, limping up the mountain, and not from booze. For once she seemed sober. She realized that drowning herself in despair wasn't going to help. She was still weakened from her and the other four Kages' battle with the resurrected Madara Uchiha.

When she had regained consciousness and found that Madara had left to find Naruto, Tsunade felt shame. Shame that after all of their blustering, their confidence, they still had to rely on Naruto to fight perhaps one of the most powerful ninja of all time. Anger that Madara felt that they weren't worth his time and that Naruto had to clean up their mess. Something that he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. Finally pride for when Naruto had somehow managed to stand against him even with the First Hokage's power added to his own along with Obito. Even more so to defeating a god like being such as Kagura. To see him become the savior that Jiraiya envisioned him to be as the child of prophecy.

However, what should have been the beginning of a joyous new era, instead began in tragedy. Sakura dying was almost as much a blow to her as it was to him.

For she seemed to understand that this may be a final blow for Naruto's heart. Though there were many things that Tsunade loved about Sakura, what irritated her was her still seemingly unable to acknowledge or even attempt to reciprocate the love that Naruto bore for her. Even when Naruto seemingly did everything that a guy could do right. Not force his love on her, save her life and the villagers live several times, be kind and loyal to her even after Hinata confessing her love for Naruto.

Then again, the only one who would know what she was doing going after Sasuke was Sakura herself. And now neither she or Naruto would ever learn the answer.

That was why Tsunade knew she had to go to him.

"Why do you turn away from me Naruto?" asked Tsunade.

"...I failed" said Naruto

"Sakura went there of her own free will. She knew the risk. The risk we all take as shinobi. No blame is on you"

"But I should have killed Sasuke after he nearly killed Sakura the first time. I should have gone after him as soon-" Naruto tried to explain but Tsunade grabbed his shoulder, turned him around, and grabbed him by the front of his jacket forcing him to look at her.

Tsunade was repressing her own tears as she continued "Do you think she would want you to wallow in grief!? No! She would want you to live, to continue on and live your dream of becoming Hokage!" she yelled in his face. Finally, she took a few breaths before letting him go. They just stood and looked at each other for a few seconds before Tsunade spoke again.

"Do you think it was easy? Seeing her body burning as she was cremated? Next to Shizune, she was the best student I ever had. She even had the potential to surpass me one day. She died to try and protect you, because she knew the promise you made to her was causing you pain. In a way, she got what she wanted in the end. You have got to move on Naruto, for her sake, but especially for you own." said Tsunade, starting from commanding tone as the Fifth Hokage and softening to something akin to a grandmotherly tone.

She did not blame Naruto for what happened to Sakura. That did not mean that she didn't wish Sasuke had died a much more painful death then what he had received at Naruto's hands. She also noticed a change in Naruto. At first she thought it was grief but then she notice something as Naruto now raised his headband to look at it. There was anger...but also doubt and sadness. And that was never a good sign.

"I don't know If I want to be Hokage anymore Granny." said Naruto. Tsunade's eyes widened in shock when she heard those words come from Naruto of all people.

"How can you say that? It was that dream that pushed you into where you are today. It had been what you have been seeking since your childhood." Tsunade asked.

"That's exactly my point. It was a child's dream." said Naruto. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, only then did Tsunade see how badly in despair he was.

"I don't know what I want anymore. I'm not even sure I should be Hokage. I mean yeah, I can say that I happen to be one of the most powerful if not the most powerful ninja of this generation. I could say I am one of the best fighters of this generation thanks to Hagoromo Otsutsuki. Not to mention I happen to be the most powerful of the Jinchuuriki thanks to Kurama. Hell I have proved it in this war." Naruto said. Inside his head Kurama was smiling not just because of the last part of what Naruto said but with honoring the old man.

Tsunade normally would be lecturing him not to be so boastful. However, she knew that Naruto wasn't boasting. He was stating facts. Facts that been proven over and over again. From his fight's with the Akatsuki, to Pain, up to fighting Obito, Madara, Kagura, and Sasuke, Naruto had more than proven his ability and valor. Something that while Tsunade was proud of him for, didn't know where he was going with.

"And yet with all this power, I couldn't save Sakura!" he yelled throwing his headband to the ground right at Tsunade's feet. Naruto, shaking with tears coming from his eyes looked at Tsunade " I-I couldn't keep my promise to her. She-she died, killed by-" Naruto took a breath to try and calm down "By someone I used to think of as a brother...the man she loved" Naruto said while wiping his face with his sleeve. Kurama remained silent as Naruto finally let the emotional wall crumble.

Tsunade reached out to comfort him but Naruto turned away and continued "I knew she would never love me as I loved her. Even if events had changed, I know that probably nothing would have changed that. I just wanted her to be happy. Be with someone else even if it wasn't me. After what he had become, anyone else. And Sasuke took that choice away from her" said Naruto with Sasuke's name sounding like a curse on his lips.

"I understand that but what does this have to do with you not wanting to be Hokage anymore?" asked Tsunade. She then bent to pick up his head band with her left hand. She then walked toward Naruto and used a free hand to take hold of his shoulder with her free hand to get him to look at her. "We all know how much that promise meant to you Naruto. But you can't give up everything for one failure. Sasuke fell into that dark pit of vengeance years ago. He pulled Sakura to her death because of it." She then grabbed the back of his neck to gently make him look at her with eyes shining from unseen tears of her own.

"And no one, not even you, could have stopped it." she said directly to his face. "I don't know whether or not she was still in love with him or not. But I do know this... Sakura did what she did because of how much pain your promise to her was causing you and she wanted it to end. She tried to stop him herself. That was not your fault. None of it was" Tsunade said. Naruto tried to protest but Tsunade gripped his head tighter "She went there of her own free will" she reiterated before taking a breath and continuing "And she would not want her best friend to give up his dream because of it." she finished and let him go, hoping to get through to his thick skull.

Naruto stood wide eyed before he spoke again.

"It's not just with-" Naruto was beginning to say when suddenly they saw something fall from the sky and land somewhere in the Forest of Death.

"What the hell was that?" said Naruto with Tsunade thinking the same. "Do falling stars usually land in Konoha Granny?" asked Naruto

"No they don't Naruto!" said Tsunade in response to his bad joke. Tempting thought it was to hit him, even after the heart to heart they shared for what seemed like hours, she had to wonder. What was it that just landed?

Suddenly, a small green light shot up from the forest. From there, it flew straight toward their exact spot on the Hokage mountain. They braced themselves for the impact of what appeared to be a small comet until it stopped right in front of Naruto. And from what Naruto could see, it appeared to be a ring. Naruto stared at it as if the ring was floating there as if waiting for him to reach out.

Which Naruto did.

 **'Naruto don't touch...'**  Kurama tried to warn him but it was too late. Next thing they both knew the ring had settled itself onto Naruto's right hand and had sent him flying toward the Forest of Death.

"Naruto!" screamed Tsunade as Naruto was seemingly taken by the ring.

**(Forest of Death, two minutes later)**

"Ahhhhhh!" screamed Naruto as this...accessory suddenly attached itself to his right middle finger and sent him flying across Konoha into the Forest of Death past all the snakes and giant bugs and before landing beside a crater face first.

As Naruto grumbled, getting up from his face-plant and rubbing the dirt off his face, Kurama spoke up.

 **'You idiot! What made you decide to reach for the damn thing!?'** yelled Kurama making Naruto wince at the volume of his mental voice.

 **'I don't know! I just got the feeling that it was searching for...me.'**  Naruto responded. Before they could continue arguing, he heard moaning coming from the crater. He looked across and was surprised to say the least of who or rather what he saw.

He saw what looked to be as best he could tell, a man that looked like something between a fish and a bird, dressed in a green and black skin tight uniform with a white circle with a green lantern pattern in it, and a domino mask across his eyes. He was tall, taller than Naruto in any case. Naruto further examined him and saw that he had rather large wound in his ribcage near his sternum, bleeding purple blood.

This of course overrode any common sense he had as he rushed to this person that clearly needed help. He ran towards him and noticed his breathing getting more irregular as he kneeled beside him. Lifting the man's head up with his left hand and putting pressure on the wound with his right.

"Hey, can you hear me? Hey!" he yelled shaking the mysterious being to get him to stay conscious.

The person in question opened his eyes suddenly and looked up to see Naruto proving he was still alive. Naruto was no medical ninja but even he could tell that whoever this guy was he was hurt bad and his wound was bleeding out pouring into his hand. Even Naruto knew that he didn't have much time left.

"Hey don't worry, I'm gonna get you back to my village. We have some of the best medical ninja around. They can save you. The can heal you wound and have a full supply of-" he looked to check the wound "um...purple blood." he said with some sarcasm which Kurama could understand.

 **'Okay...he's not normal'**  observed Kurama. Before Naruto could respond the weird person spoke.

"You-You're name-What is your name?" the strange being asked trying obviously to stay conscious.

"Naruto...Naruto Uzumaki." responded Naruto.

"I am Tomar-Re...Green Lantern of space sector 2813" Tomar-Re said.

_'Space sector? Kurama any idea what he's talking about?'_

**'Hate to say it but I'm as much in the dark as you are Kid.'** said Kurama.

Then Tomar-Re grasped Naruto's right hand. The hand that bore the strange ring that brought Naruto to him.

"The ring...it chose you" Tomar-Re said with an almost smile on his face. Naruto looked down at his hand.

"Chose me? I don't understand" said Naruto as he turned back to his wounded guest that he could see was fading. "Listen we gotta..."

"It's too late..."he began before coughing up blood which stained the dirt he was lying in "(sigh) I'm dying...listen to me. The ring chose you to take my place. Take it. To be chosen by this ring is the greatest of honors and the highest (breaths heavily) and...greatest of responsibilities." explained Tomar-Re while wheezing. He then pointed to what appeared to be a fire lamp or lantern that was next to him. "The lantern will guide you...sent message...use the lantern. Speak the oath to ah!" said Tomar-Re the winced in pain speaking too much. Naruto could see from looking in his eyes that the life in them was fading.

"Hey hold on! Don't you die yet!" Naruto screamed even though deep in his heart he knew what this person said was right. He was done for.

"Should've kept an eye on this planet...my fault" Tomar said as he grasped Naruto's hand tightly "Welcome...rookie..." he said. Then his grip loosened until his hand let go. Then his eyes dimmed through the domino mask and he breathed his last.

"No..." Naruto said as he saw his eyes faded. The domino mask on his face disappeared leaving his eyes exposed for the first time. He checked for a pulse on Tomar's neck. There was none to find. He was dead.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly to keep more tears from falling out. He didn't know who he'd been, but judging from the uniform he was a soldier of some sort. Not a ninja, at least not one he was familiar with, but definitely a soldier. He laid Tomar's head down on the ground, taking his right hand from the wound. And then closed Tomar-Re's eyes and made a silent prayer for him out of respect.

Suddenly the ring on his finger, his right hand stained in Tomar-Re's blood, began to glow. He heard a voice speak from the ring.

 _"Naruto Uzumaki. You have demonstrated the ability to overcome great fear."_  said the voice from the ring as the glowing suddenly got brighter.  _"Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."_ it finished. And then the glow grew so intense it engulfed Naruto's entire body and the surrounding area.

Where new light dawns in shadow.

**End Chapter**


	3. A Rocky Introduction

"This is such a drag." muttered Shikamaru as he stood before the gate of the Forest of Death with his teammates Kiba and his large faithful hound Akamaru, Hinata, and Shino on his left with him. Dawn was just now approaching so it was still quite dark when they arrived.

It was an hour before when the Hokage, despite her recovering injuries, ran to him with Naruto's headband and informed him of what had happened. While Shikamaru found it difficult to believe the part about the floating green ring, when Lady Tsunade gave him the emergency mission to find Naruto, he set immediately to the task of gathering a team.

It didn't take someone of Shikamaru's intellect to figure out who would be best suited to find Naruto. Getting them prepped and ready on short notice was the difficult part. Especially given that this was supposed to be the end of the war.

Fortunately, they weren't that hard to find. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were all found getting ready to head back home for some sleep. Kiba and Akamaru were walking with Hana with one of her Haimaru dogs carrying a now unconscious Tsume Inuzuka, Hana having a look of dismay on her face from her mother having too much drink.

Shino had been practically dragged out by Kiba. He only wanted to stay home and tend to his bugs or go to sleep. While he was glad the war was over he didn't feel the need to celebrate like the rest. One thing he will say is that Kiba was very stubborn and he wasn't in the mood to argue with him tonight.

The only one of them that was difficult to find was Hinata. She wasn't in the campsite where the village was to be rebuilt or with the other members of her clan. Turns out she was headed towards where Naruto had been. To the Hokage Monument. She also happened to see the green light that took him away. She was already in front of the gate that lead into the Forest of Death. Thank goodness for Shino who had somehow managed to place a beetle on her during the first day of battle. Then Kiba managed to calm her down long enough to tell her that they all had the same mission: find and help Naruto.

Shikamaru gave Naruto's head band to Kiba who in turn had Akamaru take a sniff.

"Got the scent boy?" Kiba asked his best friend. Akamaru barked telling his master that he has the scent.

"OK," Shikamaru said moving in front of them, turning to face the rest of his team. "From what Lady Tsunade described, the object..." Shikamaru still had trouble believing that a piece of jewelry kidnapped a ninja as powerful as Naruto "... that took Naruto, hurled him towards the center area of the forest. That area is most likely where we will find him." Shikamaru took a breath before continuing "We will move in as a group towards the central area of the forest then split up into a three pronged search pattern. From there one of us should find Naruto" he finished.

"Are we sure Lady Tsunade was clear on what she said took Naruto?" questioned Kiba. "I mean are we actually going to believe that a green ring hooked itself onto Naruto and flew him into the Forest?" he continued. Shikamaru himself was having trouble believing it.

Hinata, on the other hand would hear none of it.

"What does it matter!? Naruto is in trouble and we have to go now!" she yelled at them. Both of them turned their heads and suddenly became a little intimidated. Not by the volume of her voice but the way she said it without hesitation. Something that the Hinata they had all known has never done before. It was also the look of determination and anger in her eyes that had stunned them. Even Shino looked at her with astonishment.

"She's right."

The three of them all suddenly turned and saw, much to their surprise, Kakashi next to where Kiba and Akamaru were. Kiba so shocked by him appearing out of then air jumped right into Akamaru. Fortunately, thanks to his size, he managed to keep Kiba level.

Kakashi had not been seen since he was forced to kill Obito. It was bad enough that he had left Obito behind during the Third Great Ninja. Bad enough that he had let Rin die all those years ago hereby breaking his promise to him. Killing his best friend, however, had seemingly crushed him. That along with the fact that Sasuke had been corrupted and had killed Sakura destroyed him. The guilt of all those acts had made him disappear in seclusion.

However when he had heard that Naruto was in trouble, he put that aside for the one student that he should have paid more attention to from the start. His mentor's legacy, he vowed, would not be taken from this world. Naruto had done too much good in this world regardless.

"If Naruto's in danger, then we need to move now." Kakashi said simply looking into the forest.

Shikamaru nodded while Kiba just muttered something under his breath. Apparently, Hinata was still in love with Naruto.

Which then Kiba gave a disappointed sigh that Shino couldn't help but hear. And feel sympathy for.

As soon as they were about to head in, a bright green light had erupted from the forest. The light so bright that they had to cover their eyes to shield them. It only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity before it finally diminished.

"OK starting to believe the whole green thing now" said Kiba with Akamaru agreeing.

"Lets go!" said Kakashi with Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino leaping into the forest.

"This is such a drag."exclaimed Shikamaru before following thinking to himself 'When did Kakashi-Sensei become team leader?'

**(Center of the Forest of Death minutes later)**

"Naruto!" screamed Hinata as they arrived on the scene. Hearing this Naruto turned around to see who had called his name.

The team moved through the Forest with a very quick and rigorous pace being pushed by Kakashi in front with Hinata close behind. It didn't take them long to reach the the center where the light was clearly emanating from. When they reached the area they noticed three things. One was what appeared the corpse of some fish being that was wearing a green uniform of some kind. The second was what looked like a lantern who was beside the body. And finally, third, was Naruto himself as they slowed to a halt in front of him.

Or rather what he was wearing. Which was exactly what Naruto was pondering before the team got there. When the light from the ring, his ring, if what Tomar-Re said was true, had retracted back into it, he found himself in the same uniform as the alien, which he strangely accepting of for some strange reason.

The uniform was skin tight, yet not uncomfortable. Rather to him it felt almost like a second skin. The color of it consisted of green covering his chest and shoulders green while his arms, legs and armpits were colored black. Finishing off the uniform was Naruto wearing green gloves and green boots. What stood out for Naruto was that unlike Tomar, his chest only had a white circle devoid of a lantern symbol. A simple design from what he guessed would be something akin to maybe the rank of a recruit.

Naruto then turned to Hinata who while glad that Naruto was alright, started to look him over and blushed at how this...outfit showed off his figure. She along with the rest noticed that his now blue eyes had turned to an almost ethereal green color.

"Naruto what happened here?" asked Shikamaru, breaking the stunned silence. He then continued while looking him over "We were told by Lady Tsunade that you were taken into the Forest of Death by some unknown object."

"Yeah by that ring that is currently on you hand now"said Kiba pointing to what Naruto had surmised was now his ring if he believed what the strange person said which was now on his right hand.

"I'm not sure you guys." said Naruto looking at them both while Kakashi and Hinata walked to the corpse.

Kakashi looked at the dead stranger with curiosity as he nodded to Hinata who then did her hand seals and activated her Byakugan eyes. As she looked at the creature there were some similarities with humans but it looked like the organs were differently shaped then humans. But then Shikamaru noticed her eyes widen in surprise which meant something was off. He walked over to her.

"What do you see Hinata?" said Shikamaru. She deactivated her Byakugan and turned to him. "Well his organs and bone structure are different from us. Stronger, denser and his facial structure is obviously not human but..." Hinata then became hesitant. "But what?" asked Shikamaru.

"He doesn't have a chakra network."

That got everyone's attention except Naruto's. For some odd reason he knew that would be the case.

"How is that possible!? Every living being has a chakra network even the civilians have them!" said Kiba clearly not able to understand how that's possible. Kakashi was wondering the same until he saw the lantern next to the alien's corpse. He then turned his head to Naruto.

"Naruto did he say anything to you, like who he was or how that ring suddenly appeared?" he asked.

"His name was Tomar-Re. Green Lantern of Sector 2813. Species Xudarian." said Naruto automatically almost like it was on auto pilot. When he finished he was shocked what came out of his mouth "How do I know that?" he said then shook his head as he felt something in his mind.

This got everyone even Akamaru, who was smelling Tomar-Re's corpse, looking his way with surprise on their faces.

"Kurama what's going on? How did I know that just now?"

"The ring is giving you a working knowledge base of this sector and others as well. And before you ask your mind and mine are linked remember."

Naruto nodded his head to himself. That explains how he seemed to know now that Tomar-Re was telling the truth. Though it still frustrated him how this seem to be happening all at once. He started to panic internally.

"Is this thing taking over my mind!?" he asked Kurama realizing that he had just spoken to the others in a monotone, almost robotic voice.

Kurama just shook his head "No Kid, it seems your brain is just going through an adjustment period. It's very subtle about it. Don't worry too much about it. It will pass." responded Kurama

"Uh... Naruto, are you feeling alright?" said Hinata shaking him from his conversation with his fox spirit partner. He turned to the others who were still expecting answers.

"Naruto how did you know all that?" asked Kakashi walking over and taking the lantern into his left hand.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but according to what he said" he pointed at Tomar "I am his replacement or successor I guess." said Naruto.

"What your saying that he chose you for something like a mission from another village or something?" said Shino

"Not him, not really." said Naruto showing them his right hand "This did. The ring was looking to choose someone. It chose me." he continued. He then felt strangely honored that out of all the people in the elemental nations, no on this planet as he was just starting to realize, that the ring had chosen him to take up Tomar's mantle.

"OK, that sounds cool and all Naruto but maybe we should take you back and have Lady Tsunade take a look at you see if you're effected by something that ring did on the way here." said Kiba looking at Naruto like he had become a little crazy. And he wasn't alone as Naruto looked at everyone around him and they had the same look on their faces. Even Hinata didn't seem to believe him.

Frustrated Naruto then had his hands up "Look I'm not making this up. How else do you explain the fact I am in this get up right now!?" he said using his hands to motion the new set of attire that he was in. They all looked at each other for a moment in thought. Naruto knew what they were thinking though. Given his recent state after losing Sakura and killing Sasuke, he figured by the way they were looking at him they thought he was going crazy. Hell he thought he was going crazy.

Holding his head he could feel the ring's encyclopedia filling information on not just other space sectors but some information on Tomar himself and his associates. Noticing how Naruto was grasping his head Kakashi had decided to take Naruto back to the camp to recuperate. And examine that ring.

Kakashi, with the lantern still in hand walked over to Naruto. "In the meantime it seems you are at least safe. Just the same I think we better have Lady Tsunade or Shizune look you over to see if you have any other effects from this...object." he said then hand out his free hand "For now I need you to give me that ring. At least until we can determine anything you might have said." he continued.

Now Naruto in the past had listened to Kakashi-sensei's counsel in the past. It was with his help that he created the Rasenshuriken. However, over the course of the war he started to think on how events had played out. How Kakashi had hesitated when facing Obito granted him being his former friend from what Captain Yamato had described. Maybe it was from the fact that deep down he at least partially blamed him for what happened to Sakura.

But as for right now Naruto was thinking if what Tomar-Re said was true then the ring and the lantern in Kakashi's left hand belonged to him. It wasn't just this new knowledge that he acquired that was telling him to either. Despite how extraordinary this all sounded, even to him, for the first time in what seemed like weeks it made sense. All his instincts were telling him that what Tomar-Re said to him was true.

Kurama smirked at his jinchuuriki's thoughts. If there was one thing he could say is that Naruto knew how to follow his instincts and his gut. It was how he had gotten this far as a shinobi.

So Naruto did something that he had never done before with his sensei. He stood straight at him looked him straight in the eye.

"No." he said.

This made Kakashi go wide eyed. Hinata gave out a sigh. Kiba and Akamaru had their jaws on the floor. Shikamaru and Shino seemed to be the only ones calm about this.

"Naruto, give me that ring. That's a direct order." said Kakashi. He didn't want to make it an order but he felt he had no choice. Naruto and him were not on the best of terms right now and he seemed openly defiant at the moment.

"The ring chose me Kakashi." he said. The fact that Naruto didn't call him sensei made even Shikamaru eyes widen and Shino looked more interested on whats going on. Naruto let out a breath "Look, I don't why it did or what it means. What I know is that my gut is telling me that it is mine and that" he pointed to the lantern in Kakashi's hand "is also mine." he finished.

Kakashi was taken aback. Naruto had never been openly defiant before. The only times he did this was if he truly believed in what he perceived to be the right thing. Or maybe he felt angry at him for what happened he wasn't sure.

"Naruto as your teacher I-"

"Since when were you ever my teacher!" he yelled in anger. Shikamaru suddenly realized this was getting personal. Before he could intervene, Naruto suddenly grabbed the lantern out of Kakashi's hand with his left hand so quickly they almost didn't notice.

"Naruto calm down." said Kakashi holding his hands up trying to placate him. Naruto however was having none of it.

"I will not calm down! You were the one that trained Sasuke when we were young! You singled him out of all three of us! You taught him the Chidori! Pervy Sage taught me had to teach me almost everything I know. You were only there when I needed help creating the Rasenshuriken. Even then it was to take out the monster you helped create in the first place!" screamed Naruto. It was true that he was angry at himself mostly but he blamed Kakashi. His special treatment of Sasuke was, in part at least, how Sasuke became the threat that he was.

For his part Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto was wrong or not.

"Should-Shouldn't we do something. They look like they are about to come to blows." whispered Hinata to her teammates.

"What good could we do? We might be able to stop Kakashi but Naruto? Whatever the ring may or may not have done to him, if he can still go in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode we wouldn't be able to stop him." explained Shino. Shikamaru nodded in agreement with Hinata reluctantly doing the same.

Naruto then turned away from Kakashi trying to calm down. Kakashi still wanted him to listen to him so he reached out to him to grab his shoulder. "Naruto wait-" he began to tell him.

Big mistake.

Naruto then turned around quicker then even Kakashi expected and punched him square in the face. The force powerful enough to send Kakashi into a tree back first. He then slid down landing on his butt groaning, trying to stay conscious but failing miserably.

No sooner had he done it, Naruto's anger soon disappeared. His rage gone he looked at the slump unconscious body of his sensei. Where there was once anger there was now regret. Whatever he had said, true or not, he did not want to hurt Kakashi...at least not knock him out.

Shikamaru quickly ordered Hinata to give a look to how badly Naruto hit him. Before he or Shino or Kiba or Naruto could do anything else however, suddenly what appeared to be a hand seemingly made of green energy shot from nowhere and slammed Naruto into the tree behind him making him drop the lantern in the process.

'Now what?' thought Shikamaru. They then turned around and gasped when they saw two others come down from the sky themselves.

The first being a tall, athletically built, Caucasian male in his early thirties with brown hair. Shikamaru could tell his eye color given his eyes were hidden behind a black green domino mask. The second, the one had the energy hand emitting from his ring, was a dark skinned man with short black hair whose build was similar to the other one if not slightly bulkier.

What Shikamaru is that they wore the same type of uniform that Naruto now wore. The Caucasian wore the exact same design Naruto now wore, minus the fact that his gloves were white. The dark one's on the other hand, while looking similar to his brethren's, was mostly black with his shoulders, wrists and chest were made up of green armor. The main difference was their chest's white circle each had a green lantern while Naruto's only had a white circle.

"Stand down kid." said the darker of the two to the struggling Naruto trying to escape the hold he was in. Shikamaru took a quick look up at the sky above the two visitors to see the sun just now rising. Akamaru was growling at them which Shikamaru then looked to Shino and Kiba who nodded.

'If only they could come to the ground...given that they are flying. Am I actually seeing this? Two guys in green flying?' though Shikamaru. Although their uniforms were a lot better looking then Gai-Sensei's or Lee's. He then looked to Hinata, who was kneeling next to Kakashi to see if he was alright, and walked slowly to her.

"Can Kakashi stand?" he whispered. Hinata shook her head.

"Naruto only punched him hard enough to knock him out. He doesn't appear to have a concussion. He should be fine but he won't be able to wake up for at least an hour." she explained.

The caucasian walked over to where the decease's corpse was, kneeled down and took his pulse. He then turned to his partner. Even with his mask, Shikamaru could tell he was saddened by the passing of what Shikamaru figured was a comrade and friend.

Said partner had the same look of sadness. He shut his eyes in an attempt to contain his emotions. He then turned to his head back to Naruto who he saw was starting to see cracks in his construct. Gripping his wrist, he focused more to keep him contained.

"Kid you need to calm yourself down." said the stranger. Naruto just scoffed at the notion.

"Kinda hard to do that when you suddenly show up and shoot this energy hand at me." he said.

"Kid, the hand is a construct from his ring." mentioned Kurama.

"Yeah considering he's a green lantern I would assume so. What about it?" replied Naruto wondering where Kurama is going with his thoughts.

"Don't be an idiot. You got a ring too so use it!" Kurama shook his head. When Naruto loses his temper it could be a good thing. But for the moment it was being uncooperative. "The ring works through combination of willpower and your imagination. All you have to do is concentrate on something in your mind and create a construct of said object." explained Kurama. Naruto nodded his head although secretly the both knew the real reason why he should use the ring instead of his other abilities.

The truth was that they both knew if he wanted to, Naruto could have busted out of his captors construct in at least several different ways, an obvious one being his Nine-Tails chakra mode. Or even with his own brute strength maybe augmented with chakra. However, one of the many things that he had learned from Pervy Sage was when dealing with possible new enemies was the same way you deal with them in card games.

Never show your hand and never show fear.

The lantern that held him returned to his attention as he talked. "Look my name is John Stewart" he began then turned his head to point out his fellow lantern "My partner there is Hal Jordan. We're Green Lanterns from Sector-"

"2814." interrupted Naruto as he secretly concentrated his ring glowing. John didn't notice because he had pinned both of his arms in the "hand" hold. "Yeah I know who you are and which sector you're from and what planets and systems are there." he said.

"No need to get smug. Just making sure your ring's galactic encyclopedia had worked into your system. Its seamless but a little disorienting for new recruits." he explained.

"No shit its disorienting. I've been sorting this crap out since that thing put you in uniform." said Kurama. Naruto just rolled his eyes at that.

"Now I don't know what he" pointing at the still unconscious Kakashi "did to you but hopefully you got it out of your system. Now relax and-"

"You know I don't feel very relaxed right now." he said. It was then John noticed his ring glowing. "So how about I fix that!" he yelled as suddenly a green bubble surrounded Naruto. Then it expanded to the point where John couldn't hold the construct together and then suddenly he heard that familiar almost glass like cracking noise. He did his best but then just like that Naruto crossed his hands and with a yell uncrossed his arms and exploded his bubble breaking his construct in a loud crash noise similar to glass crashing. The force of it sent John from his floating position to just being able to land on his feet on the ground

From there Naruto saw his chance. Instinctively he formed a kunai construct into his right hand and charged towards John Stewart. By the time John managed to recover from the initial shock of Naruto breaking his construct, he was behind him, grabbed his ring hand in a submission lock and had the kunai on his throat.

 _'Damn the kid's fast' J_ ohn thought. He looked to his partner who for the life of him he couldn't figure out why was still kneeling at Tomar-Re's corpse.

"Hal a little help here." he said.

"Wish I could." said Hal with gritted teeth as he found himself unable to move. "But for some reason I can't move."

Naruto looked at Hals feet or more precisely his shadow. He then saw a familiar connection between Hal's shadow and trailed it down to the familiar kneeling position that Shikamaru was in along with the Nara clan's signature hand seal. Naruto just smiled at how easily Shikamaru could do that.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu Complete." said Shikamaru as he stood up with Hal also standing up against his will. They then both turned to Naruto. Which from there Kiba had order Akamaru to stand right in front of him He did from there Akamaru started growling.

"Grrrrr!"

"OK I think the balls in their court now." he muttered to himself seeing this giant dog growling and looking at him like he was a very large piece of meat.

"OK Naruto. Judging from these guys I have to say some of the stuff you said earlier now has some weight attached." he said. "Question is why are you guys here?"

"We came because of the beacon we got from Tomar." grunted John who felt Naruto grip on his hand like a vice the pain keeping him from concentrating thus unable to create constructs. "In it he told us an old enemy of ours had badly wounded him. We wanted to make sure if he was alive or dead. Seeing you in our uniform was enough to know that the ring had chosen another user." he further explained.

Naruto tightened his grip on John hand making him grunt in pain as he felt that Naruto would break his hand at the rate he was tightening on it like a vice.

"That doesn't explain why you decided to attack me." said Naruto in a menacing tone.

"That was him being a little presumptuous." responded Hal Jordan "After seeing you deck the guy with white hair, he thought you were going to attack the others. We Green Lanterns can pack a punch with our rings and all. He was just trying to make sure everyone was safe." he further explained.

"Makes sense to me." said Shino who then turned to Naruto "What do you think?"

"Why ask me?" said Naruto. This kind of stuff usually would be up to Kakashi or Shikamaru if it wasn't Shino. They were the most level headed people he had ever known.

"You seemed to know more about this then we do. After all, you received our decease's ring." said Shino.

Naruto thought about it for a moment. The power ring's encyclopedia he had received detailed information about GL protocol so what John said made a certain kind of sense. Still that left one more question on Naruto's mind.

"Why did you attack me then?"

"That was a mistake obviously." the answer came from Hal Jordan as continued to struggle in the hold Shikamaru had him in. Though he knew that he could break his hold using his power ring Hal and John weren't looking for a fight. Despite John's obviously reckless behavior.

"Look we all have seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. My fellow lantern here was overly emotional over Tomar-Re's death and overreacted. Our friend is dead so can we please stop trying to see who has the better abilities." he turned to Shikamaru "Please." he said with quiet desperation.

Shikamaru and Shino turned to Naruto. He then turned to Hinata and they each silently agreed. Even though there was some mistakes on their part, the actions they took was in part the response from seeing what was clear a friend and comrade in arms dying. Shikamaru immediately released his Shadow Possession while Naruto let John go of the submission hold he had. John rubbed his hand to restore some feeling in it while Hal rolled his shoulders to remove the kinks.

"Thanks." he said to Shikamaru who just nodded. It was then he realized that, besides the white haired guy who was unconscious, the rest of them were kids. No older then sixteen by the looks of them. Including the new recruit.

Said recruit then spoke up "Uh I don't mean to be a downer now that we are no longer killing each other but shouldn't one of you take Tomar back to his homeworld for his family to bury him?" he asked.

John nodded as he went to the body of Tomar-Re. He sighed wishing this was one duty he hated above all else. Both from his time in the marines and now as a Green Lantern. He then used his ring to create a tomb construct around Tomar in the shape fo the lantern symbol and lifted off the ground which he soon followed.

"I'll take Tomar's body back to Xudar and inform the Guardians on what has happened." he said.

"And where does that leave me then?" asked Naruto.

"Hal has seniority as a Green Lantern, he'll fill you in on how Tomar landed on your planet." said John. "As soon as you get your friend there to tell his dog to let him go." he said with a smirk. Saying this while Hal Jordan was trying to placate the dog with a bone construct without success. "And he will be the one to take you to Oa...if you decide that is." he finished before flying off with Tomar's body in tow toward the sky. By then they could only see a glimpse of green light then nothing.

"OK then." said Hal looking up at his friend before turning back to Kiba and Akamaru "Kid could please tell your dog to let me pass please!?"

Kiba just scoffed "No offense pal but when Akamaru doesn't like you he I tend do differ to his judgment."

"He's a dog for pity's sake!" Hal yelled at him. Akamaru barked even louder and Hal then changed his bone into a cannon.

Hinata moved away from Kakashi's limp body, walked up to Akamaru and peted his head. Nearly instantly Akamaru calmed down and moved in for more of her petting.

"Kiba we need to take Kakashi-Sensei to the Medical Corps. I think he will be okay but he needs to be checked for a concussion just in case." she explained. Kiba pouted but he silently agreed.

Hearing that Naruto felt even more guilty for hitting him as hard as he had. Even so, as he looked backed to their argument he wondered if it was just the punch that he was wrong about.

"Plus we could use more details on what our...visitor wants with Naruto." said Shino.

Shikamaru nodded in agreement and turned to Naruto "Would you mind escorting our guest to the Lady Hokage?" he asked.

Naruto just nodded his head.

Kiba picked up Kakashi and set him on Akamaru's back then turned his head. "See you back home. Or what will be home again." then they, along with Shino and Hinata, moved out.

This left Naruto with Hal and Shikamaru "Look guys I am at a bit of a disadvantage. Why don't we try starting over. You guys know my name so what's yours?' he asked.

Naruto moved forward "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he said. Hal smiled then held out his hand. Naruto looked at it for a moment then shook it. "Shikamaru why don't you head on home with the others. I'll take Hal here to Gran-err Lady Tsunade myself." he told him.

Shikamaru just sighed "Fine. Its like six in the morning I need to get some sleep." he then became serious. "Be careful man." he then jumped into the trees heading out of the forest.

Hal just looked up at how all of them just jumped onto trees. "Interesting friends you got there. Last one there seemed pretty lazy though"

"Don't let him fool you. Shikamaru Nara is one of the smartest guys I know. The guy who had his dog threatening you was Kiba and Akamaru. He's one of the toughest ninjas around especially when they use their combined jutsu." explained Naruto remembering his battle with Kiba.

'Ninja?' questioned Hal in his head. Realizing his confusion Naruto just smiled.

"Right. On your planet there are only certain kinds of people who are Shinobi." that gave Naruto pause "Come to think of it I can't find anything on us from the encyclopedia the ring implanted me with."

"That's because there isn't much or any information on Ajnin or the Ajnian people." said Hal. Naruto was shocked to hear that. "Hey don't look at me I don't why you guys aren't in there until now. Even when I became the first human Green Lantern my race was in there. Though not very well or looked upon with much pride."

This made Naruto more then a little concerned. However, as he continued to think about it he suddenly realized that they were not the only species that was sentient. Hell they weren't the only species in the universe period.

'How come we never thought about this before!?' he thought to himself. Suddenly he felt a little light headed.

"Hey easy pal." said Hal putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry." said Naruto as he shook it off. "It just now hitting me that my race, who we have been calling ourselves humans for as long as I can tell, are suddenly not the only ones with claim to that title. Hell you just called us something completely different!"

"Hey calm down Naruto I get it. Been there done that with the whole not only species thing. Trust me you'll get used to it." said Hal. "If it makes you feel any better, what little info we have on you guys says that your people are pretty much the same as mine." said Hal. "Look if its all the same to you we should get going to meet this Lady whatever you said she was so I can explain what's happened."

Naruto nodded in response again shaking his head. "Now you better grab you battery before we depart."

"My what?" he asked. Hal just sighed.

"Your lantern." he pointed at the green lantern standing a few feet from him. "Its your battery for your ring. Every three days or so you need to recharge it. Trust me if you decide to join us you will need it." Hal explained.

Naruto went to grab the handle on the battery then looked down at his ring. 'So that mean this thing has limits. Make sense to me. Every weapon, no matter how powerful, has limitations to how it works' he thought

"Alright then." said Hal as green energy once again surrounded him and he lifted himself of the ground to at least ten feet above. Naruto gazing in awe once again as he saw him fly.

"OK kid your turn." said Hal snapping him out of his stupor.

"Huh? How the hell do you expect me to fly!?" he complained from the ground.

"Use your ring let it do the work. Trust me unlike everything else you'll learn about it, that's pretty much the easiest. Not to mention the most fun!" he explained. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. He concentrated his will just as he did when breaking free of John Stewart's construct and creating the kunai.

At the same moment he felt himself getting lighter. Seconds later he opened his eyes and nearly panicked. He was at the same level as Hal. It took a minute before he calmed down.

"OK then lets go." he said. Naruto looked at him like someone hit him in the head.

"Are you nuts!? I am high above the trees and all you can say lets go!?"

"Just let it flow. Its easy. And since you are the only one who knows the planet, I need you to be my guide." Hal explained.

Naruto sighed in response. Hal moved in front of him which Naruto soon followed. Now while Naruto was in no way afraid of heights this was really high.

The fear didn't last though as soon they started flying. As he looked down below him he started realizing something. That fear soon turned to excitement.

He was flying!

Naruto soon realized how free he felt up in the clouds. No strings dying him down. Gravity not holding him back. He then flew ahead of Hal as great speed doing moonsaults in the air laughing like a kid with his new favorite toy. Hal just smiled and shook his head.

Naruto soon flew back next to Hal "Wow! Ha Ha Ha! Now I know why Hoshigakura used their chakra to create wings to fly. It's amazing."

While Hal agreed with the new recruit, part of him wondered about what he was talking about. Especially when he heard the word 'chakra'.

"Yeah it is. No engine no flight controls. Just...freedom." Hal responded.

Naruto questioned what he meant by flight controls before he referenced that humans used machines and technology to fly. Naruto was still uncomfortable calling another species but didn't bring it up.

"So where are you taking me exactly?" asked Hal

"I told you I am taking you to see Gra-Lady Tsunade. Explain to her what you told me and what I tried to explain to my teammates." said Naruto coming to the conclusion that it would be better if Hal Jordan, a man who can be confirmed to at least not be a shinobi from his lack of a chakra network, would be better suited to explain what has happened.

Fly toward the camp where the village was being rebuilt, Naruto could see that it was already daybreak. The sun now just popping out and morning beginning. They flew in silence for about halfway until Hal decided to speak once again.

"So can I ask a question?" Naruto nodded. "What been happening on this planet?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto said though he already had a guess on what Hal meant.

"I mean when me and John had gotten to the surface area and headed to the forest you guys were in the surface looked like a war zone. We craters, battle scars on the land, hell when we passed the mountain there a lot less then there should have been. Like the mountains had been blown up. Care to tell someone whats going on?" asked Hal.

Naruto cringed at the last part remembering that he, in Tailed-Beast Mode, had blasted aside seven Tailed Beast Balls from the resurrected Tailed Beasts. Not sure what to tell him and given the fact they were nearing the village camp, Naruto made a quick statement.

"Cliff notes version: there was a conflict called the Fourth Great Ninja War. If you want more details ask the Hokage about it when we meet her. Suffice it to say we won and it was brutal." he then noticed the perplexion on Hal's face "Look I don't know how you guys don't know about any of this but we are here so lets table this for now."

Hal looked ahead and found the 'village' that Naruto's friend mentioned. Village being a strong word seeing as how there was what appeared to be signs of a massive crater big enough for a small city. To say Hal was surprised to say the least. Overhead he could see that where building an shops used to be were now temporary housing developments as well as many smaller shops and restaurants. Hal assumed they must be for the construction workers having to live in the area as well as the civilian population.

 _'Not to mention soldiers.'_  he thought.

Both Naruto and Hal landed in the middle of the village. This stopped all the people who were working. Some even dropped their piece of wood or tool when they saw Naruto and the other stranger just come down from the sky.

"Lets just get to the tower." muttered Naruto not liking the attention they were giving. Walking ahead they moved to one of the only structure Tazuna's crew managed to rebuild. The Hokage Tower.

As they moved in Naruto could feel the villagers and workers gawking at them until he heard a familiar voice scream "Get back to work you bums!".

For the first time, Hal saw Naruto smile.

**(Office of the Hokage)**

Tsunade had been sitting in her office, waiting Naruto and the visitor. Before Shikamaru returned home he went to the Hokage to explain what had happened in the Forest of Death. Although Tsunade had taken Shikamaru at his word she was still skeptical of his report. That was why, along with Shizune, she also had Neji in the room. Since Sakura's death and Shizune being assistant to the Hokage the medical corps had been stretched then. Hinata and Ino were needed to check on the wounded with now Kakashi being among them.

Tsunade had sighed at that mention though not entirely surprised. With Naruto grieving his temper had to be all over the place.

 _'I'll lecture him about it later.'_ she thought to herself.

When Naruto and Hal appeared Tsunade had her eyes widen and Naruto's new attire. She read the report but still it was odd seeing Naruto in something besides his orange and black jump suit. What made her brows cross was the new visitor: Hal Jordan.

For his part, Hal couldn't help but realize how beautiful the leader of this village was. When Naruto realizing where Hal was staring he went over to him quickly.

"I wouldn't stare too long at her. Last guy who looked at her like that ended up nearly dead. Trust me on this." he whispered.

"Please how bad could it be?"

"I mean it literally." deadpanned Naruto.

Hal quickly heeded his advice and went into diplomatic mode.

"Greetings Lady Tsunade." said Hal Jordan. "My name is-"

"Shikamaru told me who you are Mr. Jordan." Tsunade interrupted "Before we continue there is one matter we need to confirm." she then nodded to Neji.

Neji then activated his Byakugan and ran a scan on Hal. Neji could see Naruto's and Tsunade's chakra network working fine. When he looked at Hal however all he could see was a black, blank canvas of a human being. No chakra whatsoever.

"Its true. He had no chakra running through him. Not even a chakra network to speak of." said Neji astonished since he had never seen this before

"Uh not one to sound offensive but what is with his weird eyes suddenly getting weirder and what exactly is a chakra network?" asked Hal.

"When Hinata was on the scene she examined your dead friend's body. She discovered that he did not have what we call the chakra network." explained Tsunade. "To answer one of your questions, the chakra network, in layman's terms, is basically a second vascular system but instead of blood it pumps the energy inside us known as chakra."

"And the bit about this guy and the girl I met with their eyes?" Hal repeated.

"Trade secret." said Neji with his eyes returning to normal albeit still completely white eyes. Hal took the hint that it wasn't something he should ask again. Neji turned to Tsunade who nodded to him giving him permission to leave the room.

"Now that we have established that fact..." said Tsunade while looking at Naruto in his new uniform "Maybe you can explain to me what exactly you are doing here?"

"As I explained to...Shikamaru was it?" he turned to Naruto who just nodded "Right, basically we got Tomar-Re's distress beacon. We came to your planet hoping that he might still be alive. As you probably know already he was dead when we arrived."

"And your partner attacking Naruto?" asked Tsunade. This made Hal a little more uncomfortable. Fortunately Naruto decided to step in.

"He saw me punch Kakashi-Sensei. John figured I may have used the ring given the force was enough to knock him unconscious." said Naruto. Tsunade looked him. Naruto then remained silent after that.

"That was part of it. He was afraid that Naruto used his ring. I know you don't know much about us ma'am but our rings are very powerful weapons. I mean in the right hands it could be used to decimate armies." he said. That got everyone's attention.

"Since we are getting to that subject, what exactly are Green Lanterns?" said Tsunade getting to the nitty gritty of the issue. "I also still find it hard to believe that you and your friend's are from another planet. Pardon me for saying so Mr. Jordan-"

"Please call me Hal ma'am. Calling me mister makes me feel old." said Hal. The sudden interruption soon made Tsunade, Naruto and Shizune snigger.

"Did I say something funny?" he asked.

"Our Lady Hokage is...older then she looks." said Shizune with a smile on her face.

"To get back on track." said Naruto suddenly. "Both Neji and Hinata pretty much confirmed that they aren't from around here. I can also verify which planet and space sector that they are from Lady Tsunade." said Naruto.

That last bit caught Tsunade and Shizune off guard.

'Naruto never call Lady Tsunade by her name before.' thought Shizune.

Shaking her head Tsunade returned to her attention to Naruto.

"And how do you know this all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Because along with other things this ring has given me a galactic encyclopedia which allows me access to pretty much everything in this galaxy. Well everything besides our own planet. Strangely enough there's nothing on us in the database" Naruto explained .

Tsunade put up her hand to stop Naruto from saying anymore. "If you believe in what you says then I believe it." she said. It made Naruto gave a genuine smile on his face when he heard that.

Hal was surprised at how quickly she had trusted Naruto with what he was saying. From what he could tell Naruto was just a kid no older then seventeen. Yet the way Tsunade just spoke to him with such respect, it seemed odd.

Hal was soon woken from his own thoughts when Tsunade turned her attention back to him. "Again I ask Hal Jordan. What is a Green Lantern?"

"Basically a Green Lantern is I guess you could say a champion for their space sector. As a whole we are called the Green Lantern Corps. We are a military/police force for the entire universe."

"So there are more of you?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes three thousand six hundred of us. One for each space sector." said. Hal

'That many?' thought Naruto looking at his ring.

"Who created the Corps?" asked Tsunade.

"The Guardians. Powerful immortal beings. They created the rings we use and they govern and advise us."

"You mentioned that your rings are said to be very powerful. Can you elaborate?"

Hal decided for this part to do a demonstration. He used his ring to create a construct of flowers. Tsunade stood up and walked to him. He then held them out for her to touch it.

"It feels real." she said.

"When we focus our will power we can use the ring to create constructs of any object we can imagine. From flowers to guns, missiles, you name it." said Hal. He then looked a bit sad.

"Whats wrong?" asked Naruto.

"Tomar-Re told me once that a rings limits are only by what you can imagine." he then had the construct disappear and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry I don't think its hit me quite yet."

"He was a friend of yours I take it?" said Tsunade

Hal just nodded. He then felt a comforting hand on his left arm and looked to see Tsunade grasping his arm and looking at him with sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss." she said.

Hal shook his head. "Um, anyway that's why rings are so powerful." he said trying to get back on the subject at hand.

Naruto, experiencing grief himself, soon found a way to do that by asking a question of his own.

"Why green though? No offense to it but my favorite color is orange." said Naruto.

"Well that's because green is the color of will. The will to live, the will to fight, that's what the color represents." said Hal.

Naruto then looked at his uniform, ring, and lantern with some new appreciation and respect from hearing that. Will as definitely something he knew about.

"Where do we get this power from?" he then asked.

"Your ring is charged by your battery." he said pointing at the lantern in his left hand. "You see the rings don't have unlimited energy. Every so often, like three days or so depending how much you use, you need to place your ring in the lantern to recharge. I'll show you how later if you want. Our batteries source come from the main battery on Oa. The headquarters for the entire Corps. The energy charges your lantern which in turn charges you ring." he then looked him over for a second.

"Even you uniform is a construct of the ring believe it or not." When Hal said that Naruto once again looked at his uniform. "It can even change your eye color if you allow it to."

"I have green eyes now!?" he turned to Tsunade who had Shizune fetch him a small mirror. He then used it to look at his face. Sure enough his eyes were as green as his uniform.

'Its a good look for you Kid.' piped in Kurama. Naruto was about to retort when Hal spoke again.

"If you want you can adjust so it doesn't do that. Your eye color will change back when you switch out of uniform. It helps when you have to keep you identity secret." he explained.

Naruto decided not to bother with it and come to the one question that was bothering all of them.

"Why did Tomar-Re's ring chose me?" he asked.

"Whenever a Green Lantern dies or retires from the Corps. His or her ring leaves them to choose a new bearer to take up the mantle. In order to be chosen, the person must have the ability to overcome great fear. Tomar sent the ring while he was dying and it chose you."

To Tsunade and Shizune it suddenly made sense. From Shikamaru's report, Naruto mentioned to them that he had been chosen. Now they knew why.

If anybody had the ability to overcome fear it was Naruto. He had that in spades.

"So what happens to Naruto now then Hal?" asked Tsunade

"That depends on Naruto." he answered.

"Huh?" was his response. The same notion was felt with Tsunade and Shizune.

"Naruto I'm not going to lie to you." Hal began "If you decide to join us you will have to leave Ajnin. Not permanently but you will have to leave to train to become a full fledged Green Lantern. And even if you succeed it's a hard life where you will be spending a lot of time on your own protecting not just this planet but this entire space sector."

"Much of it will mean fighting. Not of all of it will include violence. Majority of it yeah but not all of it. It won't be easy as I already said." he then smiled. "But not all of it is bad. You could still have a life on Ajnin. When you're off-duty you can explore worlds, come back here for rest, whenever. When you're not on missions being a Green Lantern can give you a freedom that few beings in your sector will ever have."

"But its still my choice if I don't want it." asked Naruto.

"Yes. Normally the decision would be made in front of the Guardians but I got a good feeling about you. Plus you are one of the youngest Green Lanterns to be chosen that I have seen save for one other. I feel its my responsibility to tell you what you would be in for if you choose to become a Green Lantern. And to let you know that you don't have to if you don't want to." he finished.

Naruto was speechless. About a day ago he was grieving for the loss of the woman he loved and now just like that he had the choice to join an illustrious interstellar military. One which he was sure that had already filled with heroes in their own rights. Part of him was excited at this opportunity.

He then looked at Tsunade and Shizune and realized the downside of this. It would mean leaving his home. For a long time if Hal was correct. Traveling to different worlds solving crisis after crisis on different levels of severity. Was he ready to handle that?

"I-I need some time." was all he could say.

"Naruto's right. If everything you say is true then this decision should not be made lightly." said Tsunade. Truth was she didn't know what to do about this either. Given Naruto's state of mind lately she didn't know what he would do.

"I understand and I agree. This isn't a decision that can be made overnight." he then turned to back to Naruto.

"I will give you some time Naruto but only so much. I don't want to pressure you but the Guardians can only wait for so long. I have to report back to Oa to explain to the Guardians what's happened. I will give you about five days to make your decision. Just remember it's your choice. Go with what your heart tells you." said Hal.

He turned back to Lady Tsunade and bowed. "Ma'am its been a pleasure to meet you." he said.

"Thank you Hal." she responded.

Taking one last look at Naruto, Hal had one more thing to say to the young man.

"For what its worth, part of me hopes you join us. I don't know why but I think Tomar-Re's ring chose you for a reason. I don't know how I know this but I think you would make and outstanding Green Lantern." he said.

He then turned to the window and asked if Shizune could open the window. She did so and Hal was soon surrounded with green energy and flew out the window at great speed into the sky.

Leaving Naruto with a monumental decision to make.

_Finally got this out! I wish I had a good reason for taking so long with chapter 3 but truth is I have been lazy. Plus being still relatively new at this I have been having trouble with writing my thoughts down. My original intention was for Naruto to make his decision in this chapter but I figured you guys waited long enough. I do hope this was worth it. I apologize deeply for the lateness and if this chapter sucks. I hope its good I really do._

_Now to point out some things: I have updated my summary but I will explain that the beginning of this is three years before season one of Young Justice. Which means by the time he meets the team Naruto will be nineteen years old. Reason I did this is because I wanted him to get trained and get himself something of a reputation. Don't worry I won't into too much info. Suffice it to say I got inspired from many things such as Mass Effect and Star Wars. So if you see instances of those that's me paying homage to those two things._

_Also I will point out that Naruto's current uniform is NOT going to be his permanent uniform. I have an idea in my head already. Not going to reveal it yet but be patient. Suffice it to say I saw it from somewhere that I will not say and it is awesome!_

_Again thank you for any support you guys give. Please leave reviews to help me and point out my flaws. Seriously I need all the help I can get._


	4. Chose to Serve?

**(Planet Oa, One day Later)**

"Green Lantern of Sector 2814, this is unacceptable!" exclaimed Appa Ali Apsa. Hal Jordan just sighed with a groan as he stood in the center with the Guardians looking down on him.

'I thought my days of this were over.' he thought.

Since his return from Ajnin after speaking with Naruto and Lady Tsunade, Hal made a straight bee line to Oa. After arriving on the green planet he was immediately summoned to the planetary citadel by Salaak. He then informed Hal that the Guardians of the Universe had summoned him for a debriefing on the situation with the new Green Lantern.

Suffice it to say after his report, a lot of them were not pleased. One in particular

"It wasn't enough that one of our most efficient and skilled Green Lanterns was killed by Sinestro, but to find out that he had discovered a world about which we had no knowledge.

Now you decide to give this new recruit time to say or do whatever he wants with his power ring instead of following procedure and immediately taking him to Oa for training!?"

"With respect sir, I figured given the fact that he is at least the human equivalent of seventeen I figured it would be best to let him make up his mind before sending him to Oa." Hal responded.

Out of all the Guardians, Hal disliked Appa the most. He was pretty much the example of what was wrong on other worlds. The guy was a stickler for rules and no room for compromise. Worst of all, he was the prime example of having no emotion. Thus no compassion. It didn't help that out of all the Guardians he was the most political. Hal feared that he would even turn on his own kind if he felt they went against what he supposed was the order of things.

Fortunately one of the two Guardians that he and most of the Corps had the most respect for decided to speak up.

"Appa, if we could table this for the moment." spoke Ganthet. Appa scowled at him but remained silent. "Now while the new recruit is a pressing issue, I am for the moment

curious about this new race that even Tomar-Re, spirits grant him peace, seemed to overlook in his sector. Hal Jordan if you could go into further into the explanation."

"I didn't get the chance to learn that much Ganthet. From what I managed to find out is that the Ajnians are very humanoid in appearance if not exactly the same as my people.

From what the Hokage, the leader of her village, and Naruto hinted at, was a second circulatory system which they call the Chakra Network." explained Hal.

"Chakra Network?" questioned Ganthet.

"Basically from the small details, instead of pumping blood, it pumps the energy that they call chakra." Hal further explained.

Before Ganthet could ask another question on what chakra was Appa coughed into his fist.

"While this all sounds interesting, we are missing the key point on why the planet has not been sighted until now?"

"Unfortunately I don't know." said Hal "When we patrol space we don't always go to every planet in our sectors. Some of us seem to forget" he stared particularly at Appa "that we go to worlds that need us." he finished.

"Regardless, the fact still remains that as soon as the ring had chosen him, he should have been sent to Oa immediately for training. May I inquire on what grounds you decided it was good to leave the decision to him?" asked Appa in his always lecturing tone.

"Again he's just a kid." said Hal. However as he said it he thought of something he saw in Naruto's eyes when the first met. While he saw sadness he also saw something else.

He had seen it in the eyes of many of his fellow lanterns, but not in one so young before. Even among those sidekicks he had seen with his fellow heroes on earth they had the look of innocence about them.

When he looked at Naruto he had seen something else. The eyes of a soldier who had seen battle and even more disturbing to him, death on both a grand and personal scale.

That and the way he had seen Naruto incapacitate John before also made him suspicious.

"It doesn't matter his age. If he has received Tomar-Re's ring then he must be brought in to be measured and trained. A power ring is too dangerous in the hands of a raw recruit." responded Appa.

Hal was about to yell at him in frustration. However Ganthet soon stepped in.

"While the procedure after the ring chooses a new host is usually the precedent it is clear that this is a special case. For one Hal is correct," looking directly at Appa "all of our lanterns, from our veterans to recruits, have the option to take off the ring and retire so they wish it or if we deem them unfit. Both cases are rare but not unheard of." said Ganthet. The latter of the two resonated with all of them given who it was that was truly deemed unfit.

"More importantly, while I disagree with Hal on the age factor given that Arisia, another of our newer recruits, is the human age of eighteen I do agree that the circumstances for this...Naruto to make his own mind."

"On what grounds?" asked Appa.

This time Sayd, Ganthet's closest ally on the council, spoke up.

"The Ajnians have suddenly just become aware that theirs are not the only species of sentient life in the universe as a whole as we have just become aware of them. Given that they are new to galactic society we must give one of their own who has been chosen time to adjust. If we try to follow normal procedure we could risk interfering with their development as a whole." she explained.

Appa and the rest of guardians looked to each other.

"Given the circumstances it appears that both Sayd and Ganthet are correct in this case Appa." said Ranakar.

"...Very well." grumbled Appa before looking back at Hal.

"Hal Jordan of Earth, it is the decision of this council that we agree to the terms you have set. Naruto Uzumaki will be given the time he needs to make his decision under the condition that if he makes the decision to join us he must be escorted to Oa for training." he explained.

Hal breathed a sigh of relief at hearing this. After the meeting adjoined he left the room headed to his quarters. Before he flew off to his quarters to rest he saw Salaak at his mobile control panels observing Oa.

"I see you got what you wanted Jordan. Are you sure this one recruit is worth this much to trouble the Guardians? We have much bigger problems then just one recruit." he said.

"You mean why Sinestro was there to begin with. And what it was he wanted on Ajnin." said Hal.

"Exactly. More to the point, what would be so important that Sinestro himself would come out of hiding? For all we know he could've found a new weapon on this planet. Though I doubt its technological."

On that Hal agreed with Salaak. From what he discerned from the village the technology they had was twentieth century at least. Not even any knowledge of space travel yet. That left out the possibility that whatever Sinestro wanted from the planet and its people involved something about the Ajnians themselves that warranted his attention.

Perhaps this "chakra" energy they had was it. They didn't know what this energy was for certain or what it did for the Ajnians. When Hal would make the journey back he was certain the guardians would want more information on these newest entries into the universe at large.

However, something in Hal Jordan's gut was telling him that Naruto Uzumaki was going to be play a key role in this puzzle.

**(Ajnin, Konoha, two days later)**

**(Dream's beginning)**

He ran as fast as he could hoping to catch up to her. Leaping from tree to tree. Rain pouring down his face, fearing for Sakura's life and deep down angry at her for thinking she could face Sasuke alone. Not that Sakura couldn't handle herself but with Sasuke's state of mind who knows what their former friend was capable of.

Finally he saw the opening the forest. To the place where Sasuke's descent had begun. The Valley of the End.

Naruto was not prepared for what he saw.

There on the river was Sakura with a fist inches away from Sasuke.

And Sasuke with his hand, Chidori in full effect, through Sakura's chest.

The next images then blurred into when Sasuke had thrown Sakura towards Naruto, him then catching her and damming himself for not learning and medical jutsu. He saw that Sakura's lips were moving but he couldn't hear what she was trying to say. Her eyes dulled over.

She was dead.

**(Dream's end)**

Naruto once again woke up in a cold sweat. After a few minutes he was once again aware that he was in his tent. He turned his head to his left and saw the lantern battery.

Seeing this made him sit up on his bedroll cross legged to look at it and the ring that was in his hand.

Since the rebuilding of Konoha began, many of the villagers, civilian and ninja alike, had to settle for temporary housing or smaller housing then they had.

Essentially larger versions tents or temporary housing while their homes were being rebuilt.

Naruto's tent was pretty basic like the rest. Not that much different then his apartment before Pain turned it and the rest of the village into rubble. A bedroll was pretty much the only furniture. However, next to the battery, his battery was one thing that was recovered from the wreckage of his destroyed apartment from Nagato's attack on Konoha.

The picture of Team Seven when Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were kids. Said picture was face down unseen. Naruto turned to it for a moment before shaking his head and returning his attention to the battery in front of him.

Since his meeting with Hal Jordan and the knowledge that he had now less then five days to make a decision that will ultimately decide the course of his life. After Hal had left he looked to Tsunade and Shizune. They were as silent as he was. After a few moments Naruto told her he will inform her of his decision and then left.

All she said to him was "Don't make your decision too hastily Naruto." in the voice that spoke not as the Hokage, but as the grandmother that she tended to be when he needed to hear it.

Since returning to his tent he was able to switch out of his uniform back to his usual orange attire. After words took off his jacket and tried to get some much needed sleep.

Sadly, once again Naruto was dreaming of the events that lead to the death of Sakura.

Naruto just shook his head. "How can I be thinking about this with everything happening!?" he mentally screamed at himself.  
 **  
'There is no weakness in it Naruto. It takes strength to mourn.'** said Kurama "Besides, you have a tendency to put your own needs and wants on the back burner. For at least a day let it be for yourself."

 _"I can't! What the hell am I supposed to do!?"_ thought Naruto in frustration. He immediately took a deep breath to calm himself "I'm sorry Kurama. Here I am thinking about how this effects me. But it effects you too. Unless you wanted out of me, which more then likely would kill me, you would be leaving our planet behind."

' **Well for one thing I don't feel like leaving mainly cause I can sleep as long as I want in your head.'**  Kurama responded which Naruto could tell he was having a small laugh which just made him roll his eyes. Kurama's tone returned to being serious. ' **Look as fun as it is seeing you just sitting there looking crazy talking to me, I think it better if we talk face to face.'**

Then just like that Naruto was no longer sitting in his tent. Naruto immediately realized that he was inside the landscape of his mind where Kurama had always resided in.

However, instead of the sewer that usually represented the prison the the Nine-Tailed Fox that Naruto expected himself to be in he found himself someplace completely different.

Instead of the dank dark tunnel he usually found himself in what he got was a large grass field. It seemed to stretch as far as his eyes could see with blades of green grass covering it. Suddenly standing before him was the Kyuubi No Yoko laying on it and enjoying the breeze and sunlight.

"What's this about Kurama? Why change scenery now?" asked Naruto.

Kurama opened his eyes, yawned and stretched out his limbs. **"I was tired of being in that stupid sewer. Besides, I thought a change of scenery to something more pleasant would help."**  said Kurama. Again Naruto felt guilty for his tone. Truth was he was tired of the damn sewer prison almost as much as Kurama was. Since freeing him from his prison the two had become friends very quickly. Naruto had to guess that it was because together they had just defeated Madara. He knew that it brought some closure to Kurama knowing that the bastard that had used him. Which made him feel even worse because Kurama, at least in part, had considered him when he changed the mental landscape.

 **"In any case we aren't here to discuss the scenery."** spoke Kurama before Naruto could speak again.  **"To answer your question fully Naruto this hasn't been my world since the Old Man died."**

"You mean Hagoromo?" Naruto was surprised to hear that one.

 **"Yeah him. The point I am making is after his death I don't think there was anyone who could see me as anything other then a weapon."**  he turned to Naruto.  **"Until you came along. Sure we didn't get along all that well for years. The war changed that all of that. Hell it changed everything."**  that was something Naruto could see and understand. It was another factor that he needed to consider when making this decision. Was he even needed now?

"And now here we stand with the world about to come to a new era of peace." spoke Naruto as he sat down next to Kurama. After saying that he then remembered again what happened to Sakura and Sasuke. He also remembered what he said.

As if reading his mind, Kurama spoke again  **"Do not let your grief make the decision to join the Green Lantern Corps for you Naruto. As difficult as this is you must think on what that will mean. As I said, whether or not you choose to accept this possibility is yours and yours alone. I am alright either way your decision goes.** " he said.

Even though he knew he was right, it didn't seem to help his frustration. "How? How can I make a decision like this? I can't just simply abandon everyone here can I?" Naruto said.

 **"You say that as if everyone on this planet is helpless when we both know they are not."**  Kurama responded.

"That's not what I meant." said Naruto sitting up with his knees in front of him and his arms on top of them. "It's like I am standing on a the edge of a cliff. Beyond that cliff is a place that not a single person on this planet has ever been before. A place beyond where everyone in my life that has guided me has ever been before. It's just-" he stopped himself from going on.

 **"Just what Kid?"**  asked Kurama.

"Even after everything that has happened with Sakura dying and killing Sasuke to not wanting to be Hokage anymore. I am not sure I am ready to leave. To say goodbye to that dream."

Kurama thought about what Naruto was saying. He then decided to ask the question that had been burning in him and Tsunade since he said those words two days ago.  
 **  
"Why did you say you don't want to be Hokage anymore?"** he asked. Naruto looked at him for a moment thinking about how to say this to him.  **"Is it because in your mind you think you are not worthy because you couldn't save one friend?" h** e added on thinking back to what Naruto said to Kakashi on the river of that bridge.

After hearing that question Naruto suddenly found himself chuckling then going to straight on laughter. "HA HA HA HA HA!"

Kurama, for the first time it seemed, found himself bewildered by Naruto.  **"Did I say something funny?"**  
  
Naruto's laughter seemed to die down almost as fast as it had begun. "I was laughing at how ironic what you said is." he said standing back up looking at the made up horizon of his mind. "On the message you're right that is part of it. But the context around it has changed. I know now that the Sasuke I knew as my friend died long before I killed him." he took a deep breath to control his emotions "No its not being able to save one friend..." he turned to Kurama who could see the sadness in his eyes. "...its not being able to save the girl I loved. That's one reason." he finished.

 **"And the second?"** Kurama asked.

"The second is more practical. I have to ask myself: am I really ready to be Hokage? Yeah I have some charisma but I have never actually lead ninja on missions or been much of a diplomat. At the end of the day when I look at myself I am a soldier. Someone who fights for for his people. Kurama honestly do you expect me, expect us, to really start going from being on the front lines to being someone who can negotiate treaties and other such."

 **"Not right now but someday you have do. And you know that you have to learn to do that as a Green Lantern."**  Kurama told him.

"I know that! Its just I don't think I would feel comfortable sitting behind a desk assigning people to go into dangerous missions. As I look on it now I don't know how Granny deals with that responsibility every day". Naruto responded. Now the second reason made sense to Kurama. It wasn't the politics that truly scared Naruto it was the fact that while being Hokage would give power it also at the same time took some freedom away. The command meant that you couldn't always be with your fellow comrades.

Most of all to Naruto. He felt that after his battle with Madara and Sasuke, he felt he had no purpose left. Since he came back its been pretty much training and learning how to survive. It was literally learn this jutsu, become stronger, or the world dies. Now that peace on this planet was all but assured he's not sure what his place is now.

Being a Green Lantern would give him a purpose to do what he always seemed good at doing. Protecting people. Also the work it entailed a way to vent his grief. After all work was good for it. At least for a time anyway.

 **"Sounds like you've made your decision."**  said Kurama.

Naruto soon found himself back in his apartment. Looking at the battery again then his hand. "I guess I have."

**(Oa, Dining Hall)**

'Say what you will about Greet's cooking when it comes to human food but he at least knows how to cook stake.' thought Hal Jordan as he cut another piece of his prime rib. He was about to eat it when his ring starting speaking.

 _"Hello is this thing on?"_  asked a slightly growling voice. That voice Hal recognized as the new prospect Naruto Uzumaki.

Putting his fork and knife on his tray he answered. "Naruto is that you?"

" _Yeah I finally figured out how to use the ring to communicate with other lanterns."_ answered Naruto.

"Hold on a minute." ordered Hal. Immediately after saying that he had his ring generate the holographic image of Naruto who appeared to be sitting cross legged. The image of Naruto was easily startled at this.

 _"Wow didn't know this thing could also have television."_  Naruto joked. Hal rolled his eyes but smiled at the joke.

"Its a form of holographic playback that we can use to communicate with each other along with simply talking to our rings like radios that you and have on our worlds." explain Hal with Naruto nodding in understanding. "Now that we have the brief lesson on ring powers, wanna tell me why you decided to make this call?"

 _"I thought you should know that I have made my decision."_  said Naruto. Hal was surprised at this. "Kid you still have three more days you don't have to make it now." he argued. Naruto shook his head  _"I'm gonna need those three days." h_ e said.

"For what?" Hal asked. Naruto took a deep breath that seemed to last for an hour before he spoke again.

 _"To say my goodbyes."_  he said with sadness. Hal eyes widened realizing what he meant. "Okay then in three days time I will come to take you to Oa for training." Hal said.

Before either cut the transmission Hal had to ask something. "Naruto if you don't mind me asking: why did you decide to join us?"

Naruto just smiled  _"You're going to be the first to ask me that question. I know you don't know a lot about me and my people Hal Jordan but suffice it to say I have been through a lot. Especially for someone as young as I am. To put it as simply as I can my world has gone through a tough time and its headed for peace. Tomar-Re's duty was to protect this whole space sector. With him gone it is now up to me to that. I simply cannot ignore that responsibility despite whatever else is going in my life. It isn't who I am."_ Naruto explained.

Hal was rather speechless at hearing this speech from a kid who in his opinion should be in high school. Instead he felt like he was talking to full grown man. More importantly even from the holo-image the eyes that were staring at him were not the eyes of sixteen year old. They were the eyes of someone who had seen pain and loss. The eyes of a soldier.

Even though Hal knew that everything that Naruto had said was the truth, he could tell that Naruto was holding back the other reason's as to why he chose to become a Green Lantern. However, from the tone Naruto used, he knew that it was personal so he decided to let it go for now.

"Very well Naruto, I will see you in three days time." said Hal Jordan. "Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps." he finished. Naruto nodded and the transmission ended. Hal rose from his chair with the tray and dumped his tray into the vaporizer trash can.

"Better inform the Guardians about this." said Hal as he left the dining hall.

**(Ajnin)**

Naruto let out a breath after the transmission ended. "Well that was easy."

 **"Yes...now the hard part begins."**  said Kurama. Naruto nodded agreeing with Kurama's assessment.

"And I know who to go to first." he said lifting himself off his sitting position and exiting his tent but not before grabbing his headband with his right hand. "I just hope he doesn't take it too hard." he hoped.

**(Ramen Ichiraku)**

It was already evening by the time that Naruto arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. It was one of the first buildings from Konoha that was rebuilt through the efforts of Inari, Tazuna's grandson. Once again running it was Teuchi and his daughter Ayame.

It was there that Naruto found not only Iruka the man that he was seeking but also Shizune. As he stepped into the slightly larger restaurant, he noticed how the two of them seem to be enjoying a meal. He could see them both eating ramen on the bar which was strange. Naruto never knew Shizune liked ramen too. Still probably not to the same level that he and Iruka did.

Clearing his thoughts Naruto took a deep breath and walked up to them. Teuchi saw him while he was working.

"Hey here comes our favorite customer!" he yelled. Both Iruka and Shizune turned around to look immediately knowing who it was the old owner was talking about. Naruto waved at them.

"Hey Teuchi." he then walked over to Iruka and Shizune. "Uh hey Iruka-Sensei, hey Shizune." he said.

Both of them could tell that Naruto was looking rather uncomfortable. "Shizune explained to me what been happening Naruto." said Iruka. "I'm still trying to process it to be honest. But I understand this Green Lantern thing is something you can choose not to do right?" he said looking at the both of them.

"Yes according to Hal Jordan Naruto can choose wither or not to accept this position if he wants." Shizune responded.

"Yeah that's kinda what I wanted to talk to you guys about." said Naruto before Iruka could further inquire. They both looked to see Naruto have his headband in his right hand his thumb circling.

"Say Naruto...you wanna get some ramen, talk some more about it?" Iruka asked.

"The ramen sounds great Iruka-Sensei but..." he then lowered his head trying to gather his thoughts. "I need to speak with both of you about that decision."

Iruka didn't like the sound of that and neither did Shizune. Naruto then sat down next to them seeing as it was best to keep Teuchi and Ayame in the loop as well given how long they had all known each other.

Putting his headband on the bar he took a deep breath. "I have decided to..."

"What Naruto?" asked Iruka with Shizune, Teuchi and Ayame looking on. Naruto again took a deep breath and looked at Iruka straight in the eye.

"I have decided to join the Green Lantern Corps." he said. Suffice it to say they were both stunned at this. Teuchi and Ayame had the look of confusion. However, what they could tell is that it seemed Naruto was doing something that may change things forever.

"WHAT!? Naruto, Lady Tsunade told you not to make this decision too quickly. There are other things you need to consider before making a decision like this." said Shizune.

Naruto immediately stood up from his seat. "I have thought about it Shizune. And the truth is that Tomar-Re's ring chose me. What kind of person would I be to just shirk this responsibility and give it to someone else."

"It would mean having to leave this planet for Kami knows how long! It could mean the end of your ninja career as you know Naruto." said Iruka. Naruto again closed his eyes to take a deep breath picking up his headband in his hand.

"I figured I give this back to you." he said handing it out to him. Everyone in the restaurant was stunned to say the least. This meant Naruto was giving up his career as a ninja.

"Naruto think about this for a minute! You don't have to do this!" said Shizune with Iruka still looking Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Actually I do. Even though I can still come back when I am off-duty I've come to understand that if I chose to be a Green Lantern I can't be a ninja for Konoha anymore. The most evident reason is that I will be gone for weeks, months, even years at a time." he then looked Iruka in the eye. "Iruka-Sensei I know that to make it official I have to go to the Hokage or" looking behind him to Shizune "to anyone working in her office. But.." again looking at Iruka.

"Iruka-Sensei you were the one who gave me my headband in what must be close to three years ago. You made a ninja in the first place. Since then I have had to learn the hard way on what it means to be a ninja. You gave me the Will of Fire. That is something I will never forget. But as much as I appreciate all that you, Kakashi-Sensei, Pervy Sage, and everyone else has given me...the time has come for me to start standing on my own." he finished.

"Naruto what is going on?" asked Ayame suddenly. Her and Teuchi had moved out of the bar to get a closer look on the argument between the three. Iruka however just put his hand up to them. "I'll explain later..." he then turned back to Naruto. "Naruto are you sure about this?" he simply asked. Naruto nodded. Iruka then did what Shizune and the others never though he would do.

He took Naruto's headband.

"Naruto just wait-"

"Naruto has made his decision clear Shizune. And I think that we can all agree that the time for us telling Naruto what to do has long since past." said Iruka. As glad as he was that Iruka-Sensei was defending his decision, Naruto couldn't help but turn away from him feeling like his choice had disappointed him. As if reading his mind Iruka put Naruto's headband on the bar he then griped Naruto by his shoulders forcing him to look him in the eye once again.

"Naruto...I have known you since you were the kid that caused pranks and jokes on the whole village just so that they would pay attention to you." said Iruka laughing at the thought of those days. "I have seen how you have grown from that boy to the man and the hero that stands before me now. You have done so much that now..." he looked to the ring that was on his finger. "...that something else has given you an even greater destiny than anyone has ever seen." he said.

Naruto could only smile at hearing his old sensei's words. He nodded and stood up from his chair and went to stand next to Shizune.

"Shizune," he began before she just hugged him. For him this was a new thing seeing as how a certain girl would always seem to punch him. Naruto immediately shook those thoughts from his head as he slowly returned the gesture. When they parted it was then he noticed that Shizune had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

"I-If I didn't know you better I would check to see if that ring has done something to your mind to make you do this." Naruto was about to protest but she held her hand to stop him "But like I said I know you." she said again which Naruto smiled. He then looked behind her to Teuchi and Ayame.

"Hey guys, if you can make me some ramen I can explain." he said.

Needless to say Teuchi and Ayame did make his favorite meal. After that he explained to them what had happened. Needless to say both Ayame and Teuchi were crying their hearts out after hearing this.

For Naruto this was only the beginning of the hard goodbyes. The next one was going just as hard if not harder.

**(Forest training ground, morning of the third day.)**

One thing Naruto liked immediately about having the power ring was being able to fly right now. Not to say that he wasn't fast it just that with it just that he didn't have a lot of time and flying as he discovered was a much faster way to travel. He had to make sure not too fast though. From what he and Kurama were able to find out that the ring could allow them to fly so fast they could break what was called their planets "sound barrier".

In any case he knew who he had to talk to next after Iruka, Shizune, Teuchi and Ayame. When he first went to the temporary Hyuuga compound and asked where to find Hinata.

Fortunately they told him she was at her usual spot on the forest training ground.

Unlike the other training grounds this one was not close enough to be destroyed by Nagato's attack since it was actually in the forest. Many ninja form the rookie seven used this place at one time or another. Two prime examples were when Kiba "walked" Akamaru. The second was it was where Hinata still trains by herself when she wanted privacy.

Finding her was easy. Especially when you are miles above the ground looking down. He landed silently and returned his attire from his GL uniform into his usual attire. After taking a minute to compose himself he walked to her.

"Hey Hinata." he said. Hinata stopped attacking the training stump upon hearing his voice. She slowly turned around to look at him.

"I knew you might be coming. You've always been good at hiding yourself though." she said with none of her usual shyness. The war had made her more confident.

There was a moment of silence between the two of them that seem to last forever. However it was Hinata that spoke first.

"I know what you are doing here Naruto. I'm not at all surprised at your decision." she said.

"You're not?" he asked.

"For one thing you have always been far too noble for your own good. You put everyone else's needs ahead of yours. From the village...to Sakura and her happiness." she said the last part with some hurt in her voice.

"Hinata...I never meant to hurt you. The people...the friends I have made all may feel love for me but you were the first person ever to actually say it to me. For that I will always be grateful to you. But..." Naruto stopped himself unable to continue. Although he did not feel the same way he still did not want to hurt Hinata. He had his head down in shame.

Hinata walked over to him and put her hand under his chin to look at him in the eye. In those eyes Naruto did not see anger. Some hurt yes but at the same time understanding.

"I know Naruto. We don't get to choose who we fall in or out of love with. All we can do is choose how to move on." she said then putting her hand over his heart. "I know that she is half the reason you decided to join this new order. The rest...well I already stated that you have always been so noble and good."

"You know me too well." Naruto said.

"I watched you long enough to know that." she started tearing up again. "A-All I ask is that whatever this new path takes you I hope you find happiness...with, perhaps someday, someone who can see you as I do. As the kind, loving, good man that I have always known you are." she said and started crying. Naruto then held her to him as she cried tears of sadness.

"In another time, in another life, it may have been you Hinata." he whispered. "My hope for you is to find someone who can love you. Someone who will be at your side. Someone who can truly treasure the love you can give. May he give you the happiness that you deserve." said Naruto as if already knowing that someone.

He pulled away to give a friendly kiss on her forehead. He then moved away from her and disappeared into the forest leaving Hinata alone. And while she my be sad now, she felt in her that the love she had for Naruto would form again into new love.

As Naruto walked into the forest to prepare to leave again he found himself staring into the eyes of Kiba and Akamaru.

"Should've known you two would be around." said Naruto. Kiba however kept solemn as he walked ahead to where Hinata was wiping her tears.

"That was a good thing you did." he said. Naruto turned to the same direction. "Did you mean what you said before? That in some other life you would have gone for her?"

"Yes. But like she said we don't choose who we fall in love with. I fell for Sakura even if she never felt the same. Hinata deserves better then to keep looking for andwaiting in me." he said. Though he tried to hide it Naruto noticed Kiba smile at that.

"So you're really leaving huh." said Kiba.

"If I didn't know any better I would say that you were going to miss me Kiba." said Naruto with his arms crossed and a smirk across his face.

Kiba turned to him. "I am going to miss my greatest rival. The guy who saved our butts every which way and now he's going to save a lot more people's asses out there." he pointed up to the sky. "In that big space up there...still having a hard time believing that though." said Kiba.

Naruto nodded. He understood that this is going to be a lot for people to take in. Shaking his head Naruto went back to the subject at hand.

"Maybe not now but Hinata will be letting her heart be open to someone new Kiba. Then maybe you can grow a pair and ask her out." said Naruto.

Kiba blushed red at hearing him say that with Akamaru making a dog noise that Naruto knew was him laughing.

"I don't know what-" Kiba was about to say before Akamaru barked at him harshly. After a few minutes that made Naruto scratch his head Kiba just sighed in defeat.

"Just one thing though." said Naruto "Although I don't share the same feelings I still consider Hinata my friend. So you hurt her you not only have Neji to deal with. Understand?" said Naruto with his eyes turning to slits as he stared at him. Kiba just nodded. Naruto's irises turned back to normal.

"Good." he said with a smile on his face.

' _When did Naruto started getting so scary?'_ Kiba thought to himself. Naruto then looked to Akamaru and petted his head.

"You'll keep an eye on them alright." he said. Akamaru barked in response. Naruto walked past them.

"Naruto." Kiba called out from which Naruto turned to him. "What Hinata said to you...I hope you do find happiness with this new journey you are starting on." he said. Naruto nodded. He transformed into his uniform and flew off into the sky heading back to the village.

"Okay I admit that's pretty cool." said Kiba with Akamaru barking in agreement.

**(Hokage's Office mid-afternoon of third day)**

Since the war's end as a show of the newly formed unity between the five great shinobi countries that the other four would send their own work crews to work with Tazuna and Inari. Just enough to accelerate the process of the village being restored. So it made sense the all five Kage were still present at Konoha to oversee the reconstruction effort.

However that also meant that now they had to keep each other in the loop about certain events. As Tsunade was just now experiencing.

"How can you allow this!?" said A the Raikage. Tsunade grimaced at his tone of voice. Currently her, A, Mei the Mizukage, Oonoki the Tsuchikage and Gaara the Kazekage were in attendance in her office. Tsunade had just finished telling them all what had transpired with the Green Lantern's arrival and now telling them that Shizune had confirmed that Naruto had made his decision to join their ranks.

Needless to say, A was not happy.

"To allow Naruto to make this decision was too hasty Tsunade." said Oonoki. "Even though we are now at peace there is still much to do. And even with the five shinobi countries now united thanks to this war there will still be conflict from other countries. Naruto or someone like him may still be needed. The Daimyo also may not approve of this either." Oonoki went on to explain.

"I understand your train of thought Oonoki but given the circumstances at the current moment we are now heading towards peace and no major enemy has made or I think will make another attack in the near future. Besides this is Naruto's decision." said Tsunade.

"Who you knew was going to make this decision rashly!" exclaimed the Raikage. "Naruto like my brother have always made brash decisions but this ups all of them. Does he not realize that he wouldn't be leaving the country but our world. And don't get me started on the fact that there may be or may not be other species and races above our heads." he continued pointing at the sky.

"If we can switch to that for a bit." said Mei "How are we going to deal with the fact that there are other races or the fact that with Naruto joining this Green Lantern Corps that we are now apart of it?" she asked.

"We have to inform them of what is going on." said Tsunade immediately. "We can't lie to the people. That is what lead Sasuke Uchiha down to madness. The truth must be told. How we tell it is another story." she further explained. There were so many facets of this situation she didn't know what to do next.

Just then Oonoki moved to the center slower then usual given he was now using a cane to walk. The damage that he had taken from Madara was no less severe then the other Kage but because of his age his recovery was taking much longer then the others. Even Tsunade believed it was doubtful he would ever fully recover.

"Given my previous history I know what I am about to say will not be agreeable. Hell, even I don't like the sound of it. But for the moment maybe we should at least try to have Naruto postpone his leaving until we know more about these...people." he said.

This again was not something everyone liked to hear. Everyone in the world of the shinobi owed Naruto their lives, including the five Kage standing in this room.

"Are you saying we should imprison him!?" yelled Mei. "After everything he has done! Do you even think we are capable of doing that now."

"As distasteful as it sounds we must at least consider the possibility." Oonoki responded. Tsunade hated herself for even thinking such a thing. But all the options had to be considered.

"Enough!" said Gaara who was leaning against wall then stood up. He then moved to stand in front of Oonoki. He turned his head to look at Tsunade.

"You mentioned that this device this...ring gave him information on this organization that Naruto wished to join. Do you believe that it has also manipulated his mind?" he asked.

Tsunade pondered on the idea. When Shizune had explained what happened at Ichiraku Ramen, she contemplated it herself. However, from what Shizune had said it that there was only one thing that could be manipulating his mind at the moment. And it wasn't the ring.

"No I don't believe the ring has anything to do with his present mindset Gaara." she declared.

"Then the thing that is would be his grief over the loss of Sakura...your second apprentice I believe." said Mei. Tsunade nodded as she remember Naruto carrying her corpse that night. She had never seen him look so depressed or defeated before. Yes he killed Sasuke but in a way he had broken his promise to Sakura. That combining with her death might have sent him over the edge.

"All the more reason to have him postpone or even reconsider his decision." said Oonoki. A was, unfortunately, starting to agree with him.

"Or all the more reason to let him go." said Gaara. "Naruto has made his decision. The days where any of us who had the right to make him decide what to do has long since past if it ever existed at all." said Gaara. Mei was smiling along with Tsunade at his proclamation. He then looked to Oonoki and A. "We have relied on Naruto for too long. We promised him we could handle Madara Uchiha yet in the end we failed and he ended up having to clean up the mess." he said. Everyone lowered their heads in shame over that.

Gaara then stared straight into Oonoki's eyes.

"Do not let our shame be made worse by your fear Oonoki." said Gaara. Oonoki closed his eyes tightly to keep tears from falling and clinched his cane tightly with both hands.

"It is obvious now more than ever that we cannot always rely on one person to save us in dire peril. Naruto has made his decision to join the Green Lantern Corps. Whether or not it is grief or simply he feels that he has no use here it has been made. And we have no right to dispute it." Gaara proclaimed.

Mei, A, and even Oonoki reluctantly agreed. Tsunade then stood up from her chair.

"I believe that this matter has been concluded. We had best make preparations."

"For what?" asked A. Tsunade had a sad smile on her face and turned to the window the sun now setting as the third day beginning to pass.

"Naruto's departure." she said. They nodded as they turned to leave the office.

Outside in the hallway outside the office doors Oonoki made a grunt which got the other three's attention.

"I only said what I said because like the rest of you I do not want this peace that we have fought for and some of us have died for to be lost. Forgive an old man's weakness." he pleaded.

Gaara walked up to him. "There is nothing to forgive Oonoki." It was true. Though he had used means that were not so agreeable in the past, Oonoki had changed. It was only for the ninja world now that he had made mention of this.

"But sooner or later you will have to choose a successor." said Mei.

"Bah! I will choose one when I see fit." said the old man. Mei just rolled her eyes with Gaara and A smirking at his stubbornness.

**(Naruto's make shift apartment, night of the third day)**

"I don't why I agreed to this." said Naruto looking at the shogi board with Shikamaru as his opponent.

"Because it was either this or Go." answered Shikamaru. Naruto grimaced at the other option for a game.

This started because the next person he wanted to meet with was Shikamaru and Chouji. After all they, along with Kiba and himself, were known as the "dead last" in their class back in the academy.

It didn't take him long. He knew that they were in the rebuilt Yakiniku Q restaurant with them, along with Ino, eating their long time favorite meal of beef barbecue. Chouji was the first to spot him and waved. After allowing him to join them Naruto gave them the info on what had happened. Of course, Ino had Shikamaru already tell them of the mission and what had happened so Naruto only had to fill in the blanks on what went on in the Hokage's office.

And then told them of his decision to join the Corps and in effect quit being a ninja.

For Chouji and Ino they were stunned enough that they were in fact other races besides their own out their in the sky they had been looking at for years. To top it off was the fact that Naruto was leaving what he described as his former dream of becoming Hokage to join them. Personally speaking this had both of them wide-eyed at what they heard.

The only one who didn't seem all that surprised was Shikamaru. After having their meal Shikamaru told him to meet up at his apartment. So they left (with Ino of all things from what Naruto saw was crying on Chouji's shoulder).

Along the way Shikamaru stopped by where his family was living in until the Nara clan's home was rebuilt. When he came out he had his shogi board under his arm. From there, they went to Naruto's place and just started playing after Shikamaru explained the game to him.

Now even though Naruto had never played shogi in his life, he knew that along with Go were Shikamaru's favorite games. Which made it more baffling as to why Shikamaru wanted to play it with him.

So that is how they spent the rest of the day. With hour after hour Shikamaru taking his king again and again three times.

Rubbing his head in frustration, Naruto finally had enough. "Shikamaru...you know that I have no skills whatsoever in this game right?" he questioned.

"I wouldn't go so far as no skill but compared to me yes." said Shikamaru flatly. This made Naruto twitch his right eyebrow.

"I don't need to be mocked Shikamaru. We both know that strategies are your thing, mine is basically instinct." he replied.

"You're forgetting determination, skill, power, and guts." Shikamaru responded. He then held his hand up before Naruto could reply.

"Naruto whether you want to admit it or not you, we, have come a long way since the day's of the Academy. And as much as we tend to call you it you are not and idiot." he said.

"And you beating me at shogi proves this how?" said Naruto. Shikamaru just pinched his nose.

"It's not me beating you, that you should notice. Its the fact that it took me longer to beat you that you should notice." he said. "Look the first time we played it took me five minutes to beat you. The second time took an half hour. This time took an hour and a half to accomplish." he explained. Naruto's eyes widened when he thought back to the other shogi games and realized that Shikamaru was correct. It did take him longer.

He shook his head. "So what? We both know no matter how good I get at shogi you will always beat me...so what's the real point of this then Shikamaru?" Naruto asked beginning to see that maybe Shikamaru had alternative to making him play shogi.

"The real point is that I am trying to teach you to use that brain of yours. Believe or not Naruto, you actually have a good head on your shoulders. You just happen to use it later in battle and rely on your instincts rather then plan ahead." he explained.

"That's what got me this far." Naruto responded.

"Yes and I am not trying to change that. But being this...green lantern...something tells me you are going to have start using your brain..." he pointed to his own head as an example "...as well as your instincts." he said. "Now compared to me in some areas you're right. You most likely don't have as high an IQ as me and you aren't able to plan as far ahead as me." Naruto just had that look that said 'You're damn right about that'. Naruto and pretty much everyone in the village now knew that Shikamaru was probably the smartest shinobi in the village.

"But at the same time those two weaknesses, in their own ways, make you smarter then me." Naruto was surprised and had the look of disbelief on his face. "I'm serious. Look the fact is while shogi can be a big help when it comes to strategy, at the end of the day it still just six by ten board. It doesn't account for real life situations that both a shinobi faces and, most likely, a Green Lantern will face right?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto nodded his head in response.

"And there lies the difference. For me I am not much of a fighter type compared to you, Kiba, Neji or Lee. I am a supporter. When I am leading a team in battle I direct them mostly from a distance, plan for each strategy. However, one of my weaknesses is that sometimes in a real life battle situation I have trouble adapting to the ever changing parameters of the battlefield."

"But you always managed to stay ahead of your enemies though Shikamaru." said Naruto.

"Yes but having no real use at close range, I can't do it as well as you can Naruto. Where as I command from a distance, you yourself can command on the battlefield if you wanted to. Which brings me to my second weakness. For all my intellect and strategic prowess on the battlefield my only real jutsu is my Shadow Possession Jutsu. As many variations of it that I have made basically I am a one trick pony. Whereas you and Chouji can basically break through those strategies and my jutsu with you guy's raw power. Chouji because of his physical strength and that of his clan's jutsu whereas you...do I really need to point out how many jutsu you have not to mention the fact that you are jinchuuriki to the Kyuubi-"

"To Kurama you mean." Naruto said a little angrily. Shikamaru put both hands up as a measure of apology.

"Sorry my bad. Point is, as you probably know better them me that being a green lantern is going to take all of that and more to survive this kind of...job. Hence why I am trying to teach you as much as I can right now tonight." said Shikamaru.

Again Naruto conceded to Shikamaru's reasoning. "You're right. The green lanterns face things equivalent to the Fourth Great Ninja War or even worse. Some of the time it involves being a diplomat. You could even say the job is in some ways is the same as being Hokage...only you are the one still out in the field and you are alone for most of it." he said.

Both Naruto and Shikamaru were silent for a moment. "So one more game?" Naruto asked given now what Shikamaru was trying to teach him. He nodded. As the game started again Naruto remembered something.

Both Shikamaru and Ino's father's had perished during the final battle. Ino's grief had been apparent as she cried even during that fateful battle. Shikamaru however kept it hidden until the war was over. He remembered him being there at the same time with Temari surprisingly enough holding him as tears broke through.

With both him and Asuma-Sensei gone, Shikamaru had no one left to play shogi with. And here he was willing to teach him the game. And at the same time strategy.

From then on, Naruto knew how precious this gift was and vowed to take Shikamaru's words to heart.

So again Shikamaru defeated him. This time it took Shikamaru two hours to beat him though. "As fun as it has been beating you Naruto, I got to get home and get some sleep." he said standing up after they picked up the pieces and grabbed his shogi board. Naruto joined him outside. Before leaving he looked up at the night sky.

"Do you see the sky a little differently now Naruto? Knowing what you know now?" he asked.

Naruto looked up at the sky for a moment then turned back to Shikamaru. "Not at the moment, but they will soon." he said. Looking back at the sky he added "Still beautiful though. That's one constant I can say for sure."

Shikamaru turned his head back to Naruto and smiled. "Hope you're ready for this." he said. Then walked away waving at him from behind as he walked home.

"So do I Shikamaru. So do I," thought Naruto he walked back inside to try and get some sleep.

Kurama had been keeping tabs on his conversation. Shikamaru was right about one thing. Naruto needed to get even better then before. Not physically or even jutsu wise but mentally. The challenges that Naruto had placed on himself by taking this new path would not be easy. Inside he vowed to himself to help his host. After all, what are friends for? Especially since he was permanently stuck in Naruto.

The next day would be the last day.

**(Oa, Fourth day on Ajnin)**

Ganthet was staring out a window from the council chambers. Looking at the beauty of the planet Oa from this view was where he could think in solitude on events of the universe on his own. Some on the council, such as Appa, didn't approve of this behavior.

 _'Fortunately, in this case, we do not have to decide as one.'_  Ganthet thought with a smile.

As he stared at Oa's sunrise it reminded him of how much time had passed. Four days on the planet of Ajnin given its planetary clock was the same as Earth's. Which brought back Ganthet's worries.

Worries on how they could have ignored such a planet that had been in a sector with one of their most diligent lanterns patrolling it.

And what type of people were the Ajnians. From what info that Hal Jordan managed to obtain, they seemed very similar to humans minus this chakra network. Culturally they seemed to resemble Earth's Japanese back in the day's of the samurai and ninja. Obviously however, there were large differences. What they were he did not know.

That was one of the things that were concerning him. There were too many unknowns about this species. There may be even other races and organizations who might take advantage of it. Ajnin had just now gotten its first lantern and found out they were not alone in the universe at large all at once.

Which lead to the other reason he was worried. Closing his eyes, Ganthet remembered how after Hal Jordan left, Appa once again tried to manipulate the others into changing their minds. Ganthet and Sayd again argued that the decision had been made. Though not admitting it openly he felt it was the right decision. Besides, he knew Hal was correct.

Naruto next to Arisia was the youngest to be inducted for a very long time. Being a member of the corps at this age was not unheard of but at the same time not expected.

Especially, given how dangerous being a Green Lantern was.

Giving both thoughts gave Ganthet much to think about. And it was there that he thinking that maybe, just this once, one of the Guardians might leave the safety of Oa.

"For a breath of fresh air." he said to himself.

**(Ajnin, Konoha Cemetery, Fourth day, Early morning)**

Naruto walked over to the last place that he wanted to be. Ironic, given that it was the last place he needed to go.

The Konoha Cemetery was located in the outskirts of Konoha hence why it wasn't destroyed from Nagato. However, the cemetery had to be repaired after Kabuto had rummaged through some of the graves to obtain the corpses for some of his army. Since then, it has become a place for those who had lost loved ones during the war. Still at the front of the cemetery was the statue that stood as a testament to the Will of Fire.

In Naruto's hand he carried flowers. He hadn't been here since they burned her ashes and made her grave as a memorial to her. He walked over to where the grave was. A few more across from Asuma's is where he found it.

It read : Sakura Haruno. Beloved daughter. Respected Ninja.

Naruto place the flowers at her grave then put his hands in his pockets staring at her tombstone unable to come up with anything to say. Naruto had so many emotions going through him at this moment.

"My last day here Ajnin." he started. He then looked around. He saw other people at the graves of their loved ones. Friends, lovers, husbands and wives with their children.

Some to pay respect, others their grief still fresh on their faces. Children crying over the fathers and siblings that died.

He turned back at the grave site. "You'd think that with this ring I could be able to say goodbye to everyone. But I can't. You'd probably think I was being lazy. Maybe I am. But I wanted to save this for my last day." he kneeled down to it.

"There are a lot of emotions when I see your grave site Sakura. The first one that comes to mind is shock. See you there with Sasuke's Chidori hand through you lung and heart. How I still can't believer you are gone." he said. The second emotion going through me is..." he took a deep breath

"...Is anger. Anger at myself for not getting there in time. But more importantly I think, I am for the first time angry with you. Angry that for some reason we both knew that the Sasuke we knew was gone at yet for some reason you still loved him. At least that's what I think. Anger that you didn't wait for me so that I could help you. And do this day, I will be ever angry that I will never know that if some part of you felt the same way." he said. He then kneeled down to stare at it directly.

"When you told me you loved me at Land of Iron, for a moment I wanted to believe you. That maybe you saw in me what you thought you saw in Sasuke. But I knew it wasn't true. I don't know if you felt anything for me other then friendship." The anger the built up to the point where he yelled.

"I did everything I could! I let you hit me even though we both knew I could have avoided them. I protected you! I fought with everything in me to try and return Sasuke to you. I just... don't understand why you loved him." he said closing his eyes tightly to try and prevent tears from coming out.

"Maybe she didn't either." said a female voice.

Naruto stood up and turned around. He then saw Mebuki Haruno walking towards him.

"Mrs. Haruno." said Naruto and bowed to her.

"Stand up Naruto. I think the last thing Sakura would want is for you to bow to me given everything that has happened." she said as she stopped in front of the grave to kneel and pray for her daughter.

"I-I will leave you in peace then." he said starting to walk away. He thought he was ready for this but he wasn't.

"Naruto..." said Mebuki. Her voice stopped him from walking away. He turned around in time to see her back on her feet.

"You have earned a place here. You were her teammate and closest friend. And...I know how much you loved her." she said.

"It wasn't enough." he said. Naruto wondered why all of a sudden this woman was actually talking to him. They had never met before today. "Mrs. Haruno I have to ask. Why are even letting me be here right now?"

"Fair question. My husband and myself along with the village blamed you for what happened with the Kyuubi No Kitsune's attack. We saw you as the monster in human form." she looked at him then. Straight into his eyes and he saw not hatred but sadness and regret.

"When Sakura returned home after your mission to save Gaara, she told us she knew the truth about you. What we kept from her and what the others kept from their children. She said it was wrong of us to treat you the way we did. I tried to explain that at the time we could not see the difference between the Kyuubi and yourself. She argued that it was an excuse!" she wept. Naruto tried to reach out to her but she held out her hand to stop him.

"I never-I never got to tell her that she was right. With the attack from Pain which was far worse then the Kyuubi's to the war I didn't get the chance to tell her that!" she yelled. She then took a breath and looked at Naruto.

"But I do have the chance to say this. Naruto, what happened to the village all those years ago was a tragedy. But our willingness to blame you, an innocent child whose only thing was becoming the Jinchuuriki of the thing...no I guess that's not entirely true either is it?" she shook her head. "In any case, our willingness to blame you for what happened...was a crime. Made worse from the fact that the other Jinchuuriki, Kami rest their souls, suffered the same loneliness that you did makes it worse. Now we stand here on the precipice of peace and the one person that we both loved, the one we wished we could share it with...is gone!" she cried finally letting her tears cry out.

As she cried Naruto started doing the same. Walking over he did something she never thought this boy should do after everything that she and her father and even Sakura to a degree did to him. He hugged her.

She slowly returned to it and there they spent the next hour or so. Comforting each other in their grief.

After a few minutes the two of them left the cemetery and Naruto walked her home. When he asked about Sakura's father, she told him that the grief had hit Kizashi even harder then it did her. He hadn't left the makeshift home ever since the funeral pyre for Sakura. As they reached their temporary home Naruto reminded her that they needed each other more then ever now. Mebuki nodded in agreement. As Naruto turned to leave Mebuki spoke again.

"Naruto." she called to which Naruto turned around. "No one here can truly understand why Sakura went on her own to face Sasuke. Whether to kill him or convince him to come back I cannot say. For my part I hope it was the former."she then took a deep breath before continuing. "However, I feel that her feelings may have been conflicted."

"How?" Naruto asked even though he knew that Sakura loved Sasuke still even when he went beyond either of them helping him He had become a rapid dog.

"Conflicted from her feelings towards the memory of one young man...or the person standing before her." she said. Though thick at times, Naruto was able to grasp what she meant and found it impossible.

"Mrs. Haruno, with all due respect, I highly doubt she thought of me anything other then her best friend."

"If that is true, then in this one case my daughter may have been a fool." she said. Before Naruto could argue she spoke again. "Naruto, we can speculate all we wish but my daughter fell in love with the wrong man." she said.

"We can't help who we fall in love with ma'am." he said.

"Whether that love changed or not...we will never know." she said. "Naruto...whatever else you choose to do with your life, try to find happiness in it." With that she went back inside to see to her husband.

Naruto walked for a moment looking down at the power ring on his hand.

 _'Happiness or not, at least I can have a purpose.'_ he though before transforming and flying off.

Morning was almost over and he still had another person to see before tomorrow.

His last day.

**(Oa)**

_'Times up.'_ thought Hal as he looked at the sky of Oa ready for his departure.

It would take approximately one day to reach Ajnin, hence why he was leaving now. Any later might mean he would be late to pick up the newest recruit.

"Hal Jordan." a familiar face called. Hal turned around to see Ganthet and Sayd floating to him.

"Something the matter Ganthet?" he asked.

"Given the sensitive nature of Ajnin being discovered along with the fact that one of their own has now been chosen to become a green lantern, the council feels that you should be accompanied on your journey to retrieve the boy." Sayd explained.

"That wasn't needed when me and John joined the Corps." said Hal perplexed by this decision. More importantly was that Sayd said the two of them. Which meant the rest of the Guardians were not aware of this decision.

"True as that is however the circumstances are different. Mainly even though humanity at larges is unaware of galactic events, we knew about Earth far before you became the first human green lantern. Ajnin however has apparently been overlooked. The reason as to why we are still unclear. Because of the unusual circumstances, we have decided to send along someone with you to retrieve this Naruto Uzumaki." Ganthet explained.

Hal for the most part agreed. After all, humans had only passing knowledge of aliens thanks to Superman and Martian Manhunter. Not the events of the galaxy at large. And he was right. Tomar-Re wasn't one to leave a planet unchecked in his patrols. If events on the planet were true and their was a Fourth Great Ninja War (which Hal was still trying to wrap around his head that there was a planet full of ninja) then why wasn't Tomar alerted.

And of course, Sinestro found it first.

"So then who is going to be coming with me? John again? Cause last time he didn't make that good of an impression on the kid or his friend for that matter." said Hal thinking that they were going to assign him a fellow lantern. Preferably someone with more experience in this matter.

"I am." said Ganthet. Hal widened his eyes in shock. Sayd also was surpris

ed. When the council was convened in private they had all agreed to send someone with Hal given the reasons that were presented. Plus Appa believed that Hal was not the best sort when it came to diplomacy. What she and obviously the rest didn't expect was for him to choose himself on the matter.

'He planned to accompany Hal Jordan from before the start of the meeting' she realized.

"Ganthet uh, isn't this a little irregular?" asked Hal. And it was true. Since the time he's been here he has not once seen the Guardians leave Oa much less travel with one of their green lanterns.

"While it is true that we Guardians are not seen in the universal public, I feel that I have to see this new world for myself." said Ganthet.

"But why? What purpose to do you have to see these people?" asked Sayd.

"It is...of a personal nature. Aside from that, I feel it is time for at least one of us to interact with the universe at least once in a while." he responded with a smile on his face.

Sayd shook her head bewildered. Ganthet had always been unusual among the Guardians. So...emotional which was usually something the Guardians barely tolerated from one of their own. Especially Appa Ali Apsa.

"Sayd it is quite alright. If you recall back in the early days we went to worlds personally for a time to seek recruits." said Ganthet. Sayd reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"So Hal Jordan, shall we be off then?" he asked.

"Yes sir." said Hal Jordan with a small smile on his face.

So they both flew off the platform they were on and headed off planet with Sayd shaking her head.  
 _  
'Appa will be boiling when he finds out about this.'_  she thought.

 **(Ajnin, Memorial Stone, Afternoon of the fourth day)**  
 _  
"Ring power at fifty percent."_  said the now newly operated AI from Naruto's ring. This was the first time it had spoken up since it told him welcome to the Corp after Tomar-Re's death.

' **Not surprising since you've been using it to move from one location of the village to the next.'** said Kurama as Naruto flew towards the Hokage Monument.  
 _  
'Its a lot faster then moving from place to place on the ground.'_ Naruto responded as he reached his destination. He then saw Kakashi, the person he needed to see next, and floated above his location.

He could see Kakashi looking at the Memorial Stone and even in the air could see him in a sad state. Even though he had known that Kakashi often came here, this was the first time he had seen him here.

 **"Why do you hesitate Naruto? You know we have only this day left to finish these goodbyes of yours."** said Kurama.

 _"I know that Kurama. I'm just..trying to figure out what to say."_ Naruto responded thinking back to how their last conversation ended with Naruto knocking out Kakashi. His sensei since he left the academy. Looking back on that event, he knew he had acting rashly and was blinded by anger in that moment.

Taking a deep breath Naruto silently landed on the ground behind Kakashi.

"I had a feeling you would be coming." said Kakashi before Naruto could transform back into his usual attire. Kakashi got off his knees and turned to look at him. He then rubbed his jaw a bit.

"Anyone ever tell you you have one hell of a right hook?" he questioned. Despite the circumstances, Naruto actually smirked at that comment. Kakashi then examined Naruto in his new uniform.

"At least you pull off the whole green look better the Gai or Lee. Especially with the black mixed in with it." he joked trying to lighten the mood. Naruto managed to pull a small smile before regressing back into his usual attire. They then stared at each other for a bit. The humor left and the tension had returned.

"Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto started but Kakashi held up his hand to stop him.

"If you are going to apologize for what happened you shouldn't. What you said may have been in anger but it was also the truth. In the beginning I did cater to Sasuke. I taught him the Chidori and singled him out of all three of you." he said with remorse. "Do you know why I did that?"

"I thought it was because out of all of us he was the most similar to you physically since he was a Uchiha who inherited the Sharingan." Naruto answered.

"Correct Naruto." said Kakashi. "However that was not the only one of the reasons why I singled Sasuke out. There were other reason."

"Like what Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Well one I wasn't a good fit for Sakura. You and I both know she did much better with Tsunade as her teacher then she ever would have with me." said Kakashi to which Naruto agreed with.

"However, when it pertained to you," he looked to the Memorial Stone. "I don't know. Back then I suppose I wasn't sure I was worthy to train the son of my sensei."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "You knew? For how long!?" he exclaimed.

"Since you were first assigned to my team at least." he stated. Kakashi knew Naruto would get angry but he felt the need to tell him this.

"Why didn't you tell me then!?" asked Naruto.

"You already know the answer to that. The third made us all promise not to tell you until you were ready." Kakashi answered though given everything that has happened he found it a weak excuse.

Naruto was furious but kept his cool and wait for Kakashi to continue his explanation.

"But more then that, after what happened with Sasuke and you starting to study under Master Jiraiya during the Chuunin Exams, I wasn't sure if I had anything left I myself could teach you." Naruto actually did agree with him on that. Since the Chuunin Exams, Jiraiya had become Naruto's sole teacher for the two years and even after that. Still Naruto shook his head.

"But you still helped me with my affinity for the Wind Element which then helped me add it to the Rasengan and created two of my most powerful jutsu Kakashi-Sensei. That was you who taught me to that." said Naruto referring to the Wind Style version of the Rasengan and the more commonly and more powerful version the Rasenshuriken.

"And I'm grateful to be of help with that Naruto. But even after that it doesn't change the fact that I tried too hard to keep Sasuke from falling to darkness, to the desire for vengeance." he then had trouble with his emotions at this point which for Naruto was new to him. Kakashi being one of the most level headed ninja he had ever known next to Shikamaru.

Yet you could see the emotion on his face behind the mask as he continued. "Which then ended up with Sakura dying the same way that I killed Rin!" he exclaimed.

Naruto remembered from fighting Obito and Madara that Obito mention that Kakashi killed Rin. After that battle Kakashi explained with great remorse that Obito was his teammate along with Rin. Seeing now Naruto could see why he was always late.

"Sasuke killed Sakura. Not you. If there is anyone to blame its me. You and everyone else saw what Sasuke had become. I still held out hope that he could somehow be redeemed.

Sakura payed the price for that." said Naruto now looking at the stone. "And Obito made his own choices. Madara may have manipulated him but he chose to try and remake the world in his own image. That image was from a child that never grew up and move on with his life. A child who couldn't understand that you have to let someone you love go after they are gone." said Naruto. "Even though I can understand the desire to bring the woman I loved back to life...I will not force my own version of things or my opinion on innocent people as he and Madara tried to do. Instead of dwelling on the past and those we lost we have to keep moving forward."

"Is that why you are leaving to join this Green Lantern Corps? To move on?" Kakashi asked getting to the heart of why Naruto was here. Naruto lowered his head at the Memorial Stone.

"That's part of it." he said.

"And your desire to become Hokage? What happens to that?" Kakashi asked again.

"Being Hokage I've discovered is more restricting then I like now. The reasons for me wanting it in the first place I found I can do just fine as a Genin. And now as a green lantern that is now expanded." he said with a smirk on his face. His face soon got serious again.

"Besides, I don't think I am leader material. At least not yet." he said. The last part being for Kakashi's benefit. In truth Naruto wasn't sure he even wanted to be a leader anymore. And for once he felt that he should get at least that much.

Kakashi seemed to read this intention but decided not to bring it up. "So when are you going to make your resignation official?"

"Tsunade's next on my list of stops. I already gave my headband to Iruka-Sensei. Now I just need to talk to her to finish it." he responded before they both turned to look at each other.

"Naruto are you sure you want to do this? From what I saw with the previous user of that ring this duty sounds dangerous." he asked.

"No question on that I admit. From the database this ring has shown me the things the Corps has to deal with will make being a shinobi look like a cake walk, Ninja War or not." he then looked down to look at his ring with a clinched fist. "But this ring chose me. I can't just shirk that responsibility or what it means. Hence another reason why I have given up being a ninja. I have to give one or the other a hundred percent. I can't divide my attention between the two." he explained.

Kakashi in his own way was proud of what Naruto was saying to him. He knew he was right about everything he said. Also, it wasn't in Naruto's nature to do anything half-assed.

That work ethic and his talent had allowed Naruto to come as far as he had.

Naruto unclenched his fist and looked at Kakashi.

"You taught me better then that." he said as if reading his mind.

"Whatever else that may have gone wrong with this team, Sasuke, Sakura or me Kakashi-Sensei, I want you to know that I would not have gotten this far without you. You taught me what it meant to be loyal to my village, my comrades, and my friends for good or ill. Me leaving this planet or not being a ninja of Konoha doesn't mean I will always be gone. I will still be able to return and visit. But this is something that I feel that I have to do." he continued.

Kakashi could do nothing but nod in agreement after all that.

"Well I know better then to try to dissuade you after you have made up your mind Naruto." said Kakashi putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I thank you for giving me praise that I don't deserve. Truth is whatever short comings you proved yourself a remarkable ninja. And though it saddens me and the rest of us I am glad that you are doing something you have decided to do. You've earned it and then some." he told Naruto before backing away.

Naruto was beside himself. The only thing he could do was stretch out his hand. "Its been an honor learning from you Kakashi-Sensei." he said.

Kakashi took his hand to shake it. "No the honor is mine." he responded.

"Naruto!" the familiar voice of Shizune called from the distance as she walked over to where Naruto and Kakashi were after they just shook hands. After reaching them she spoke in her normal voice level.

"Lady Tsunade has sent me for you. She wished to speak to you before sundown." she said. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess I better see her then." he said looking to Kakashi and bowing to him. "See ya later Kakashi-Sensei." he said not wanting to say goodbye. Kakashi nodded and they left.

"You know I could fly us there Shizune. It would be quicker." Naruto told her as they left with Kakashi looking on hearing the conversation.

"No thanks. You may be used to flying around the village but I think after everything a nice walk would be preferable right now." Shizune responded in a voice that was not to be argued.

"It would save us on power Kid. Plus its nice to keep your head level if you don't feel too godlike flying around." said Kurama in his head. Naruto grudgingly accepted that he was right. Still he really liked flying now. He felt that he had no limits on his person when he was in the sky now. But he agreed with Shizune's wishes and they walked to the office.

Kurama shook his head. "That ring is like his new favorite toy." he thought to himself.

All the while Kakashi watched them leave.

"Wherever this new path takes you Naruto may it give you happiness." he thought to himself.  
 **  
** **(Hokage's Office, Dusk of the Fourth Day)**

When Naruto entered Tsunade's office he was surprised to find that she and him were not alone. Shizune was there obviously but also inside was Killer Bee and Gaara. Gaara was standing near the window's while Killer Bee was leaning against a wall glaring. Naruto followed his path and found two others standing in front of the Hokage's desk who had turned around to face him

Two people that he hoped, especially now, that he never wanted to see.

The two members of the village council: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.

 _ **"Oh Crap."**_  both Naruto and Kurama thought.

_And this is where we leave off. I apologize for the cliffhanger in this chapter. Truthfully I along with you hoped that this would be the chapter would be when Naruto left to begin his training but I have decided to leave that for the next one. Reason being it has been far too long since I last updated this thing._

_I apologize sincerely about that. As stated above my real life is a bit in flux with the holiday season and me working late I haven't had as much time to write. Hopefully that will improve. I am hoping the next chapter will be up by the end of this month. Again I must thank you for you patience._

_I will also annouce my newfound intention to find myself a beta. Truthfully I don't feel that this is my best. Granted my mind is usually ahead of these events but that is no excuse. The only way I see myself getting better is having someone else like minded to read it before I post it. So hopefully I will start annoucing my beta with my story soon._

_I would also like to point out that as of the posting of this chapter the poll for Naruto's second element is officially closed with the winner being:_

_Lighting Element! Not at all surprising as it is a favorite on fanfiction. Until the next time ladies and gentlemen._

_P.S. Please don't kill me MesoJoe._


	5. An Auspicious Induction

The two members of the Konoha council stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Naruto just stared at the elderly pair with dread.

"What's going on?" asked Naruto although he already had a guess.

"The old fools here were telling the busty Hokage that they wanted to keep you confined to the village." Killer Bee explained.

Naruto had expected that reaction from the council members. "After bursting in here while the Kazekage was still in the room?" asked Naruto pointing out that Gaara was standing next to Tsunade in what appeared to be support of her.

Before either he or Tsunade could say anything on the matter Homura and Koharu stood in front of Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki. It is the decision of the council that your request for resignation from Konoha's shinobi roster is to be denied." said Homura.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll admit that I don't know all that much about procedure or anything, but last time I checked that decision belonged to the Hokage herself. Not the council."

Both Koharu and Homura were slightly surprised that he knew that. However, they kept their cool as Homura responded.

"Normally that is true however we felt that given recent events," Naruto noticed that they were both looking at the new accessory on his right hand's middle finger as Homura spoke. "We feel it necessary to intervene in this case."

"So in other words it was exactly how Octopops said it." Naruto responded and looked behind them to look at Tsunade. "Am I right Granny?" he asked.

Normally Tsunade would be annoyed at the nickname Naruto gave her but today it was a moment of relief to her. Getting back to the subject at hand she stood up from her chair behind her desk.

"You would be correct Naruto." she answered. "Initially I had summoned you here to talk for...obvious reasons when our "esteemed" Konoha council decided to "advise" me to convince you to not resign for the good of the village." Tsunade further explained glaring at the council.

"At the same time that I was in the office no less." said Gaara.

"I thought with examples like you Tsunade older people tended to be wiser than that." said Naruto to Gaara and Tsunade as if pretending that Homura and Koharu weren't even in the room. A joke that was quickly noticed by the two between them.

"Enough!" said Koharu. "Naruto Uzumaki, given the current state of the village your sudden decision to resign as a Konoha shinobi is not only selfish but ill-timed." she continued.

"Selfish!?" Naruto asked the fun over and him now getting angry at the what the old bitch had said.

"I'm sure that she explained to you what has happened in the last few days. On how the fact that we are not the only ones out there in the universe? Or the fact that there is an intergalactic peace keeping corp that I have now been selected to join? Or did you just barge into her office demanding her to try and keep me from resigning?" Naruto told her with him uncrossing his arms and pointing at the ring on his right hands middle finger to make the point across.

"Last one pretty much summed it up." muttered Killer Bee. Koharu wasn't going to stand for this little upstart's outburst though.

"Whatever else is going on with this...visitor is unimportant." said Koharu to the entire group before focusing on Naruto once again. "Naruto Uzumaki. Given the trauma that may have occurred from your fight with Sasuke and since we know nothing of what effects this ring has placed on your mind in its fragile state the council has decided to disregard whatever decision the Hokage has made or would have made in this matter." she told him.

Immediately after finishing her tirade she and Homura could feel the stares coming from behind them from Tsunade and especially Gaara.

"Naruto has saved us more times than I can count. He saved my life. He saved all our lives. In this war he helped save us all from the removal of our free will at the hands of Madara and Obito Uchiha. And after words he had to go through the hardship of killing his best friend after witnessing Sasuke murder the girl he loved. Now you have the audacity to deny him a decision that after, everything he has done for your village, my village, and the entire ninja world you would dare try to take from him?" said Gaara furious that these old crones dare to try to take his friends choice. Even if he himself or Killer Bee or Tsunade didn't understand the reason behind it at the moment.

"What this boy wants does not matter!" Koharu responded harshly to Gaara. He turned back to Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki." she began feeling weary of having to deal with these naive fools who only thought of one person over the entire village. "It is the decision of this council that your resignation is to be denied at this time. In addition, this...visitor of yours." she said with disdain on her voice as one who would speak of as an enemy. "He at the very least raises concern if not a threat to the village and the ninja alliance. Even if we were to believe in your word that he is from another world, a statement that I find preposterous, even more the reason to guard against him." She once again looked down at the ring on his finger before once again looking Naruto in the eye.

"Along with this Hal Jordan's security risk we must also take measures that should have been taken years ago. You, Naruto Uzumaki, are officially confined to the village. Until such a time that when you are needed by Konoha." she looked to Homura who nodded and walked to Naruto with his hand held out.

"The ring that was given to you. Hand it over to us." he said.

Homura stood there waiting for him to give him the strange ring. Naruto however stood there doing nothing.

"I said give me the ring." he insisted moving closer to grab it only for Naruto to clinch his hand into a fist a move it out of the way. The ring glowing as he did so.

"I think Naruto has given you his answer." said Tsunade suddenly as stood up from her chair to stand with Gaara.

"When last I spoke to you two I told you both that you lacked the ability to believe in the next generation of the shinobi of this village. If that was ever in doubt before it is now." she spoke before crossing the room to stand in front of the desk staring right at them.

"Gaara is right. Naruto has more than earned the right to make this decision. While I do have reservations on his choice or rather the speed of it." she glared at Naruto briefly for which he couldn't help but scratch at the back of his head. "His has made his decision and I shall stand by it whether you like it or not."

"This child isn't in the right mind to make any decision!" Homura argued pointing at Naruto. "For all we know between his grief from losing Sakur-"

"You Don't Get To Speak Her Name!" yelled Tsunade as she smashed his fist on the desk which shattered in two before the force of her fist. All of them were stunned at her outburst and looked at her with wide eyes. Although Naruto wasn't surprised at her reaction. He knew that she was hurting over the loss of Sakura just as he was. Tsunade took a deep breath to calm herself before calming down.

"Lets skip the pretense's here. We all know why you're both so determined to keep Naruto here." she said. "You, like Danzo before you, still view Naruto as some secret weapon to use against the other villages. Especially now since he proven himself against all three remaining members of the Uchiha clan."

"And also at the same time that makes you scared shitless." said Killer Bee interjecting. "Naruto's got you both scared so bad you probably pissing in your pants right now you stupid old fools." he continued with a smile on his face. Both Homura and Koharu soon grew nervous.

Because the fact was the eight-tailed Jinchuuriki was correct.

What made it worse is it happened under their noses. At the ripe old age of sixteen Naruto had accomplished what many thought to be impossible. If Danzo were still alive he would be fuming at the fact that Sarutobi did not let him induct Naruto into Root.

Nevertheless they would not let him make the decision to leave the village of his own accord. They would have him become their weapon whether any of them liked it or not. For the sake of Konoha.

On top of that if what they had heard was true, then the ring Naruto possessed was a weapon that could make him even stronger. They had to confine him no matter if it cost them the shinobi alliance to do it. Despite Tsunade's idealism, they felt that this alliance would not last and this peace that Naruto had created would crumble.

"In other words they have given up on there ever being peace." thought Naruto seeing the situation unfold.

"As Hokage I decide whether or not that someone can resign from their commission." said Tsunade. She then turned to Naruto to look him in the eye. "Naruto above any of us has the right to decide what to do with his life regardless of how any of us feel about it." She turned her eyes back to the two council members.

"Whether you two believe it or not, we have just discovered that the stars we see above us every night are other worlds. Hal Jordan's arrival has proven that. With this comes the knowledge that there are other species above us and an organization that from what Naruto has described as protectors of this vast universe. This same organization that Naruto has been given the opportunity to join it. An organization that none of us here could have possibly imagined existing. For any of us to deny him this choice, after everything that has happened, is wrong and I and my fellow Kage will not stand for it!" she spoke.

Naruto stood shocked in how willingly Tsunade was willing to defend him. When he was coming into her office he assumed that she would try to talk him out of joining the Corps.

Yet here she was defending his right to make that decision whether any of them liked it or not.

However just as always Homura and Koharu refused to budge on this issue.

"You foolish child!" screamed Koharu "The only thing that this child has proven is that he is a valuable weapon. We should have had him become a member of Root from the moment Min-the Fourth sealed the Kyuubi in him!" she said. Naruto immediately noticed her almost saying his fathers name.

It was then he decided that enough was enough.

"Him being chosen for whatever this group is solidifies the reason to-mmph!" Koharu suddenly found her tirade silenced by what appeared to be a glowing green gag across her mouth. As she tried to pry it off the rest turned to see Naruto with his ring hand in a fist raised at Koharu.

Before Homura could protest this act of defiance Naruto swung his hand and fired off another gag construct on his mouth with him muffling the same way that Homura was now.

"Finally somebody shut those old fools up!" exclaimed Killer Bee.

After the initial shock Tsunade had to hold her sides trying but failing not to laugh at the council members situation. Even Gaara was smiling as he saw the two dudders try to pry the gags off and seeing their constructs stretch like taffy but refusing to remove themselves from their mouths.

"You know the more I use this thing the more I like it." Naruto said looking at his fist while walking past the struggling council members to stand in between Tsunade and Gaara. "Hey! Pay attention you old geezers. The gags won't be removed until I say so stop struggling." said Naruto as he turned to face them.

Seeing as their struggling to remove them wasn't getting anywhere so they just stood there staring at him like a he was the one in trouble. When in truth it was the other way around.

"Now then, first off you don't get to say anything about my father." Both of the old geezers widened their eyes and hearing this "Yeah that's right. I know that my father was Minato Namikaze who was the Fourth Hokage. I also know that my mother was Kushina Uzumaki the previous Jinchuuriki before he sealed it in me." Naruto said.

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise that Naruto had decided to reveal that fact that he knew his heritage. Killer Bee kept his expression neutral but smiled when he saw the looks on the council's faces. He already guessed that Naruto was his son given the resemblance between the man he saw all those years ago and the kid that appeared to him on the island.

The only one who was truly surprised at this was Gaara though for the moment he decided to keep quiet since Naruto had the floor.

"More importantly," he continued. "I know the truth about the Uchiha massacre. About how Danzo, with your support I might add, ordered him to spy on the Uchiha clan on the suspicion that and Uchiha summoned and took control of Kurama. After finding out that they were planning a coup d'etat against the village Danzo, again with your support, ordered him to assassinate his own clan including his own mother and father!" he ranted.

Now this was a surprise to everyone in the room. Especially the two gagged old people in the room.

"Naruto... how do you know this?" asked Tsunade with some hesitation.

Naruto turned to her "Obito told me when me, Kakashi-Sensei and Captain Yamato stayed in the Land of Iron." then he turned back to the two council members. "Which Itachi confirmed when I ran into him and Nagato resurrected." He took a moment to calm his anger before once again looking at them both straight in the eye.

"Judging from the looks on your faces I would say if not for the gags on your mouths you would be saying this was for the good of the village right?" he asked. They just stared at him in defiance and Naruto could see the delusional belief in their eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes." Naruto said with a shake in his head. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Then looking at them straight in the eyes he spoke.

"This war, Obito's ambition to change this world and take people's free will and ability to forge their own destiny, that was his doing long before this conspiracy against the Uchiha began. So I won't fault you for that. However, the manner in which you two and Danzo decided to murder an entire clan instead of at least attempting to rectify it peacefully made it worse. If not for you're single minded idea that the only way to achieve peace is with force then maybe Itachi would still be alive, the Uchiha clan would not have to be massacred, and...Sasuke would not have become the monster he turned into... and killed Sakura." Naruto said. The last part he still had difficulty saying since he now hated Sasuke for what he had done to Sakura.

"If it were up to me I would have you removed from your positions as Konoha's council. But it isn't." he continued looking to Tsunade. She saw the look in his face and realized that whether or not there would still be a Konoha council would be up to her.

Naruto then removed the gags that were on their mouths forcefully. Homura and Koharu breathed hard as their mouths were free. He moved from the center nodding to Tsunade to let her have the floor.

"Here is what is going to happen. As the Hokage of Konoha, I have decided to replace the Konoha Council." she simply stated.

"You cannot do this Tsunade!" said Homura but Tsunade simply glared at him which shut him up again.

"As Hokage I have every right if I feel the council has become corrupted. You should feel fortunate that I can't throw you in prison for conspiracy of mass murder. Now I will ask you once get out of my office now." she responded turning her back on her.

"You cannot replace this council! Who will be there to advice the next Hokage or help with the village-

She was suddenly interrupted when both she and Homura found themselves lifted off their fleet. They turned their head around to see Killer Bee holding them by the back of their robes with them shaking their legs.

"Mind if I take the old fools out the door?" he asked the three standing before him. Naruto and Gaara looked to Tsunade who was just smiling at him. She then walked over to them.

"This is how it goes. You can either allow me to dissolve this council and let you two retire with some form of dignity. Something I am having extreme reservations about." she said to them with her hands or her hips.

"Or you can try to fight me on this. But keep in mind Homura and Koharu that if you do try to fight this decision the knowledge that Naruto has on your involvement with the Uchiha massacre will be made public not just to the village." she turned to Gaara. "But my fellow Kage. Tell me Gaara what do you think would be the punishment for basically creating the events for what has happened in the past few years?"

"I believe imprisonment by the Daimyo at best or execution at worst for crimes that created the Fourth Great Shinobi War. As Oonoki stated, I am young. I am sure we can summon the rest of the Kage back here despite the growing lat hour." said Gaara turning around to see the sun had set and night has started to fall.

"So what say you?" she asked of the now disgraced council members. They looked to each other and their faces fell in defeat and shame as they both simply nodded their heads.

"We will...agree to the terms." said Homura with some defiance that Tsunade scoffed at.

"Take the trash of my office." she ordered.

"With pleasure." he simply stated then tucked both of them under his arms and walked off. As he went out the door with the two disgraced council members under his arms Tsunade looked to Shizune was just standing there the whole time watching the events unfold.

She was still shocked over Tsunade breaking the desk in half.

"Shizune follow him. Make sure that Koharu and Homura start packing to leave the village immediately." she ordered.

"Yes milady." Shizune said as she ran right after Killer Bee.

After she left it was just Naruto, Tsunade, and Gaara in the office. Moments pasted in silence. The two old former members of the Konoha Council had interrupted what was supposed to be between them.

Naruto looked at the broken desk that was beside them. He then turned to Tsunade.

"You're going to need a new desk." he said with straight face.

At first Tsunade's eyes widened. She looked to the broken in half desk and then back at Naruto and Gaara who was also surprised that at this time with Naruto preparing to leave the world that they now knew was Ajnin and his career as a ninja behind.

Then suddenly she started hold herself back from laughing. Until she could hold it no more and started laughing out loud hysterically. Naruto soon found himself laughing out loud as well. Gaara, being more reserved then the other two just smiled at the joke and at watching them laugh.

Their laughter came to an end then as they walked over to the windows to see a quarter of the sun setting in the distance.

"Naruto before we get into the reasoning behind your decision I must ask something." said Tsunade.

"No." Naruto simply stated out of the blue. Tsunade looked at him confused. He turned to look at her.

"You were going to ask if the Old Man was involved with the decision to destroy the Uchiha Clan. The answer is no he wasn't. He even opposed it." he explained.

Tsunade gave a sigh of relief at hearing that. Deep down she knew that Sarutobi-Sensei would have nothing to do with such an act. However, since there was no documentation and with Root being so secretive she doubted she could have found any information on what happened.

"In any case," interjected Gaara eager to get back to the reason they were here. "Naruto this decision that you have made to leave to become a member of this organization. Are you certain that you wish to join them?"

"Gaara you're not the first person to ask me these past few days." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head.

"Its a fair question Naruto." said Tsunade also getting back to the matter at hand. " I told you not to make this decision hastily yet here you are doing that realize that you are essentially giving up your career as a ninja to join this group. A group who Kami knows faces dangers that are at least equivalent to what we all went through in this war!"

"You're saying this like I made a rash decision just out of the blue. I did give this some thought Granny." said Naruto already getting tired of having to explain himself over the decision he made.

"But why? Why are you willing to give up everything you have worked so hard to achieve especially when you being Hokage seems so close now?" asked Gaara.

Naruto turned to look a both of them straight in the eyes.

"Granny, before the ring appeared on the Hokage Monument, do you remember what we were talking about?" he asked.

"We were essentially talking about the same thing we are now: Why you don't want to be Hokage anymore? I thought it was because of Sakura's death and you having to kill Sasuke." she said.

"That's part of it." admitted Naruto. He touched his stomach right above his seal.

"Me and Kurama already talked about it. The truth is I can't deny that Sakura's death is one of the reason's why I don't want it anymore. Believe it or not I don't have any guilt when it comes to killing that bastard Sasuke." he said. Both Gaara and Tsunade were not surprised on his changed feelings for his former best friend. Tsunade especially.

"But more then that is the fact that I can't see myself sitting in front of a desk ordering others to fight and die. Nor do I really see myself as being a leader of anything much less a ninja village. I prefer going being with my friends and fellow comrades whether they be from my village." he then looked towards Gaara. "Or another village." he then looked down at his ring. "Or as a Green Lantern." he finished.

"And we are now headed towards that path of working together. Thanks in large part to you." said Gaara.

"Exactly. This world is finally on the path to peace. And that's another thing Being a Green Lantern gives me the chance to go to other worlds and peoples who need it. That's their mission." he said.

"But do you have to give up being a ninja to do it?" asked Tsunade "Hal Jordan said it himself. You can still have a life here on your homeworld." she reminded further.

"Even so," he said moving his right hand that was on his stomach turning it into a fist to look at the ring. "Tomar-Re protected this whole sector of space by himself. He had to leave whatever career he had on his homeworld to become a Green Lantern. They all had to. I have no right to any less then them. I have a responsibility to this sector. So yes, I can still visit or even still live on Ajnin. But I can't split my focus from being a ninja or a Green Lantern. I have to give my all to this."

"And besides I need to do this. Not for my village, not for Ajnin, not even for this space sector. I need to do this for me." said Naruto with desire in his voice. Tsunade and Gaara were puzzled at this. Naruto realized this and decided to explain further.

Tsunade and Gaara looked at each other for a moment. Naruto anticipated more of them trying to talk him out of it. After a minute Tsunade shrugged her shoulders.

"Told you he wouldn't budge on this." she said. Gaara nodded his head in agreement. Naruto now found himself confused. They turned to look at him.

"We and the rest of the Kage had a meeting regarding your decision." said Gaara. "We wanted to be sure if you would not change your mind on this."

"Gaara there has been only one time where I went back on my word. We both know when." said Naruto.

Gaara looked at him apologetically then.

"Naruto." she said in a tone which gained his full attention and off the painful subject. "I know that you have been asked this a lot these past few days but I have to ask again. Are you certain you wish to do this?" she asked.

Naruto nodded. Tsunade sighed in response.

"Very well then." said Tsunade. Though she and Gaara were sad to see him leave she was impressed with his resolve to honor what the fallen Green Lantern stood for. Deep in her heart however, she also felt immense pride in Jiraiya's student. He fulfilled the prophecy of the toad sage and now was going to be a part of something bigger then any of them had ever imagined.

That did not mean however he would leave empty handed.

Gaara realizing that this was something that should be between them decided to leave them be now that any doubts about Naruto's decision was put to rest.

"Naruto when you and Lady Tsunade are done here meet me and Killer Bee at the Hokage Monument." he said.

"Gotcha." said Naruto. Gaara nodded to Tsunade then left the office. Leaving Tsunade and Naruto alone.

Tsunade walked over to what was left of the desk she destroyed in anger, moved the left half of it out of the way to reveal a large scroll and placed it in front of him.

Naruto recognized as a sealing scroll similar to the Scroll of Seals that he had tried to steal all those years ago.

The scroll was about as large as that scroll but the outside container that was holding it was black. What really got his attention was the symbol in the center of it. It was the same symbol he had seen on the flak jackets of the chuunin and jounin of the village.

"You've seen this symbol before many times but do you know what it is?" she asked. Naruto shook his head. "I didn't think so. Truth is not many do. The symbols is that of the Uzumaki clan...your clan Naruto." she said.

Naruto eyes widened and looked at the symbol with great respect. "After Uzushiogakure fell many of your clan scattered to other villages and integrated themselves into them.

One of them was your mother Kushina Uzumaki. The other being Mito Uzumaki...my grandmother." she said with pride.

"So that means..." Naruto said thinking of what that meant.

"It means you aren't that far off when you call me Granny yes." she said thinking of how annoying it was that Naruto was more accurate when he called her that.

"More to the point is this." she said putting her hand on top of the scroll. "Within this scroll is contained all the knowledge and history of your clan. This includes their expertise in fuuinjutsu." said Tsunade.

"How long has it been in the village?" said Naruto looking at the scroll with curiosity.

"Since Mito Uzumaki first arrived." Tsunade responded.

"In other words its been here since the era of the First Hokage." said Kurama speaking for the first time during this whole conversation.

"I'm guessing it is a sealing scroll?" asked Gaara.

"Yes." said Tsunade turning her head to him before turning back to Naruto.

"This is all great but why is it here?" he asked. Tsunade shook her head while Kurama slapped his hand/paw into his face.

"Its your inheritance Naruto!" exclaimed Tsunade remembering that Naruto was still thick on certain subjects.

Naruto eyes looked again at the scroll bearing his clan symbol.

"Granny I don't need-"

"Naruto don't you dare finish that sentence." ordered Tsunade pointing her finger at him. "One, this was going to be given to you when you reached maturity but since you plan to be going across the stars for Kami knows how long you are going to get it now. And two, you can't say you don't deserve it because let's be honest you do. So you don't get a choice or a vote on this. Understand?"

Naruto could tell she was serious about this but at the same time she seemed to have certain light in her eyes that made him think she enjoyed watching him squirm to avoid being hurt. Even Gaara seemed intimated.

Naruto put his hands up. "Okay okay no more arguing here." he said.

"Good. Now like I said it contains all the knowledge of the Uzumaki clans fuuinjutsu as per your parents will. In addition, they have also included several scrolls within it listing jutsu of your primary element which is wind along with several other elemental ninjutsu when and if you discover what your second element is. Some of which I am sure you are itching to use or create yourself I imagine." said Tsunade. Naruto rubbed the back of his head at the last one.

"Finally," said Tsunade again reaching into her destroyed desk to open one of the drawers. "Your parents along with...Jiraiya." she took a moment to hold back her tears before continuing while Naruto kept silent at the mention of his Godfather's name. "Had made a trust-fund that was attached to your parents will when past away. Upon his death Jiraiya had added this trust-fund to the amount that was put away by your parents." she turned around and held out a small envelope.

"Inside this envelope contains a pay stub of your parents and Jiraiya trust-fund that has been transferred into your account. Let me assure you Naruto that it is substantial." she explained.

Naruto, while impressed with the implication of how much, started to think of something. "Can I even use money from my homeworld?"

 **"You can always ask Hal but I think the Green Lantern Corps can make whatever species currency into money that can be used on other planets."** said Kurama.

Naruto nodded to himself as he ripped open the envelope. When he looked upon what he was receiving the word surprise would be an understatement.

"Granny if this a way to bribe me into reconsidering my decision your doing too much." he said looking at the amount.

"Wish I was. That is what they left you." she responded. Naruto kept looking at the amount in the pay stub.

Fifty-five million Ryo.

 **"Kid that's pretty much the value of ten jounin's retirement pensions."** said Kurama in his head. Naruto continued to look on in a stunned stupor.

"I also included your finally payment as a jounin." she said. The last part woke Naruto up as he looked upon her again.

"Jounin? Last time I checked Granny I was still ranked a Genin. I haven't even taken the Chuunin exams yet."

"Naruto you just ended the Fourth Great Ninja War, defeated Obito, Sasuke, Madara Uchiha and Kaguya. From which has brought peace to the entire world of...what is this planet called now?" she explained then asked.

"Ajnin." Naruto said.

"Right...need to get used to calling it that. Point is this world will still have troubles but on the whole you have brought a stabilizing peace that will actually last. You helped brought all the nations together. Finally you have been chosen by what appears to be an elite group in charge of doing basically this and more on a daily basis. I think you have more then earned the rank of jounin and the pay that comes with it."

Naruto for his part was feeling more then a little embarrassed as Tsunade listed all that he accomplished rubbing his head.

"Fine I guess I have no choice put to take it." said Naruto with a smile on his face. Tsunade returned it but then she started to tear up. As Naruto pocketed the pay stub he suddenly found himself being hugged by Tsunade. Naruto hesitated for a moment still unfamiliar being hugged by a woman. The last time that had happened was when Sakura hugged him.

Eventually he returned the hug knowing that this may be the last time he'd see her or anyone from his homeworld again.

Tsunade understood why it had taken a moment for Naruto to return her hug. She blamed herself and Sakura for not always showing or telling how much Naruto meant to both of them. Maybe being a Green Lantern could help change that.

She released him from the hug but still held him by his shoulders.

"Do you remember what I said to you after we fought Orochimaru and Kabuto?" she asked.

Naruto looked back all those years ago and remembered with a smile. It was when Naruto in his impetuous youth had challenged Tsunade for a second time. After he had knocked his headband off instead of flicking him on the forehead she had kissed his forehead. She then put her hand on his chest and said to him:

"You'll be a fine man." he repeated her words out loud.

"I also thought a great Hokage." she said repeating her thoughts out loud.

"You have grown to be a fine young man Naruto Uzumaki. Don't doubt that. The one thing that does change," she looked down at the power ring on his finger. "Is that you now become a great Green Lantern. These people got lucky when that ring chose you. Don't let them forget it." she said.

Naruto simply nodded and smiled with pride at her words.

"Now you better see Gaara. Its getting late and you have a big day tomorrow." she said looking out at the window and seeing the sun nearing the end of setting.

Naruto grabbed the clan scroll and strapped it to his back. Walking towards the exit door, Naruto took one last look at Tsunade.

"See you around Granny." he said before exiting.

After hearing the door closed Tsunade looked at the setting sun and seeing the stars start to come out. Holding her arms to herself she wondered if this what mothers and grandmothers feel when seeing their young children and grandchildren grow up and leave home. She was struggling to keep the tears at bay.

"I'm going to miss that kid." she said to herself. After a few minutes she heard the door open. She turned to see Shizune walk in.

"Well have they been taken care of?" she asked.

"Yes both elders are currently in their quarters. I believe they may be preparing leave the village. Should I post guards on their quarters?" asked Shizune.

"No let them go. Whatever else they may have become they still earned the right to come and go from the village." Tsunade responded. She then turned around to look at her.

"Have the preparations been made for tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yes. Prior to the council's interruption everything has been set up." Shizune answered with confidence.

"Good. Get some sleep Shizune. We need to be there for Naruto's send off." ordered Tsunade.

Sniffling at the thought, Shizune nodded and left.

**(Hokage Monument, evening of the last day)**

After dropping off his newly acquired inheritance at his apartment, Naruto quickly flew to the Hokage Monument from above he could see Gaara and Killer Bee standing on top of the Fourth's head.

Killer Bee was the first to spot him as he floated down to meet them.

"Hey Naruto!" he screamed waving his hand.

Naruto floated down and switched out of his uniform.

"Nice of you to join us mere mortals." said Killer Bee with a smile. Naruto looked at him perplexed at him. Gaara was doing the same thing.

"What?" he asked.

"I just met you officially tonight and even I know that when you speak you rap." said Gaara with his arms crossed.

"Yeah Octopops you feeling okay?" Naruto asked.

"Hey I just found out that my boy here," he said pointing to Naruto. "Is leaving to parts unknown up there." he said pointing to the now star filled sky. " To join an organization that will make what we faced in the war look easy! So yeah I think tonight is a good night to go out of character." Killer Bee responded with a serious tone that was unusual for the boisterous rapper.

"He has a point Naruto. You save the shinobi world and bring a lasting peace to it and the first thing that happens is a ring finds you, we find out that we are not alone and those stars are in fact other worlds out there and to top it you join this Green Lantern Corps." said Gaara agreeing with Killer Bee.

"What he said also includes Sakura's death." said Naruto. That quickly brought a somber mood to the three and made them remember who they lost. Not just Sakura but also Shikamaru's father who died when Headquarters was destroyed.

"Naruto I know this is difficult to ask given what is to occur tomorrow but I have to ask. How do you feel about all of this?" Gaara asked with concern.

It was true. When Tomar-Re's ring found him he was still in the early stages of grief. It was no doubt that Sakura dying played in his mind still "Good question." he said closing his eyes tight as he looked back at the moment after he killed Sasuke

Turning away from Sasuke's sinking corpse, he looked at the body that he held in his arms. The adrenaline wears off, the anger fades as he looks down at Sakura's body her eyes closed never to open again. He comes to the realization. Sakura Haruno, the girl he loved, was dead.

Shaking his head to stop the memory from playing out again he turned to his friends.

"I won't lie to you guys. I won't say I'm fine with it cause I'm not. Its something I will live with for the rest of my life. That I wasn't fast enough to get to her...that I took too long to do what should have been done. All I know is that right now this feels right." he said bring his right hand to a fist to show them the ring.

"This is something I can do. Helping people and fighting the good fight has always been my nature. I see that now. I can't do that as Hokage. When I first wanted it I wanted the village to acknowledge me. I got that anyway just from my deeds alone. Then I wanted it because I felt I could protect everyone I cared about. I failed in that when Sasuke killed Sakura...and killing him didn't help."

"And you think that becoming a Green Lantern will?" asked Killer Bee.

"Maybe...but also because its the right thing to do." Naruto answered.

"How did I know you were going to say that." said Gaara with a sigh. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well that settles it then." said Killer Bee as he rubbed they back of his head while shaking it.

 **"What of you Kurama? Are you fine with Naruto's decision?"** asked Gyuuki via telepathy to his fellow tailed beast.

 **"Who do you think was the one who encouraged the boy?"** Kurama responded.  **"Besides, the knowledge that this ring has brought to me I am now curious on what is out there in this universe. Naruto won't say it but he is thinking the same thing. And he needs this to help him move on."** ****  
  
 _"What he said."_ said Naruto.

"Then whatever this new path set you both upon may it continue to be of your own choosing from now on." said Gyuuki. Naruto and Kurama both mentally nodded to him.

"Just make sure you and your host can pick up the slack. With us gone its going to be up to you two to help the rest of the Kage and the villages...now I am worried." Kurama chuckled at the thought.

Gyuuki just shook his head. Killer Bee had a smirk on his face.

Naruto then turned to Gaara.

"Gaara I have a favor to ask."

"Name it." said Gaara without hesitation.

"The seven of us...the Jinchuuriki that didn't make it to here. Something needs to made to honor those who were taken by Obito and Madara. They need to have something that people remember that they and the tailed beasts weren't forgotten." said Naruto with a solemn determination.

Gaara had a genuine smile on his face upon hearing this.

"I shall propose to the rest of the Kage to pose a monument to the seven Jinchuuriki who fell in war. The unsung heroes shall be heard. I am assured that they will support it."

"Good."

"Alright enough of this gloom and doom. You got to be ready for this Naruto. You about to take a step none of us even dreamed of when the sun comes up." said Killer Bee.

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. It was getting late and he needed to try and get some sleep.

Transforming back to his uniform he prepared to fly off when Killer Bee spoke.

"You know, green and black are kinda good colors for you." he said.

Naruto looked down at himself.

"Yeah I guess they do." he said. Smiling at both of them he flew off back to his apartment.

Watching him go Killer Bee just smiled and shook his head.

"Man that looks like a helluva a lot of fun." he turned to Gaara. "Can't you do something like that with your sand?"

"No...best I can do is a floating platform. Oonoki can fly but I doubt at the same speed as Naruto can with his ring." said Gaara. Killer Bee could have sworn there was a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Do you think he'll be surprised with the send off we're giving him?"

Gaara just smiled.

As Naruto flew towards his apartment Kurama spoke up.

 **"You nervous about tomorrow?"** he asked.

 _"Not so much. Leaving will be the toughest part but it something we have to do."_  Naruto responded.  
 **  
** **"Yeah...we're about to enter a whole new stage Kid. I mean seeing things that no one on Ajnin has ever seen. You ready for that?"**  said Kurama.

 _"After everything else...yeah. I was thinking I needed to get away for a while. This just means I can make a difference while doing that."_  Naruto said. They reached their apartment. Naruto went inside and once again went to his sleeping roll hoping he could get some sleep. Without nightmares of the past for once.

And be ready for the dawn of a new day in his life.  
 **  
** **(Above Ajnin's atmosphere)**

Hal and Ganthet had arrived looking down on the planet. Ganthet looked down on it perplexed.

"Can you give me an analysis of the planet Hal Jordan?" he asked.

Hal nodded and used his ring to run a quick planetary scan. It took only a few minutes for the scan to finish.

"Anything unusual?" Ganthet asked.

"Nothing that I can see on the planet itself Ganthet. I compared it to what was stated on the database from Earth. They are pretty much identical. Even down to using oxygen to the mass of the planet itself."

"Very then. We should head down to surface then." said Ganthet motioning Hal to move ahead. Being that he had been here before it made Hal Jordan, Ganthet's guide on this world.

Hal nodded and the flew towards the planet. As they did it was on the this side of the planet's axis that the morning sun was beginning to rise. When the reached the surface they then moved into the direction of Konoha. Along the way Ganthet saw what Hal Jordan and John Stewart had seen.

The land was filled with craters. Some large to potentially change the landscape in some areas. He could also see where there seemed to be many different weapons on the ground and all of them were appeared to be from the time period of the Japanese in the case of ninjas.

However, none of Earth's Japanese culture had depicted open war as it appeared on these battlefields.

"Looking at this I'm still trying to figure out how Tomar-Re didn't notice that this...Ninja War was going on on this planet." said Hal suddenly as if giving Ganthet's thoughts to voice.

"That I'm afraid is still one of the many mysteries surrounding this world Hal. As is the reason Sinestro himself would come here in the first place. It may take some time to find the answers to those questions. After all these people just now found out that they are not alone in the universe. Most of all the ring has chosen one of there own. We must take care on how to proceed." Ganthet advised.

"Yeah you're right Ganthet. In any case there it is." said Hal as they both saw the village in their sights.

Ganthet could see that the village was as Hal stated going through reconstruction. Structures and wooden beams where being built and he could see people working on them. They decided to fly above this toward the Hokage's office building. The people of Konoha already were shocked to see a flying man above them. Ganthet wasn't sure on what their reaction was if they saw him.

They discreetly landed in front of the building and saw a young brunette woman standing there waiting for them. Even so there Hal could see people staring at them from behind.

There wasn't hate in their eyes, Per Se, just a wariness about them. Understandable considering everything that has happened.

"Good morning Hal Jordan. I am Shizune assistant to the Lady Hokage." said Shizune. Although she sounded pleasant enough Hal Jordan could hear a distinct hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Hello Shizune." Hal responded. He then motioned to Ganthet standing next to him. "This is Ganthet. He is one of the Guardians of the Universe that I mentioned the last time I was here."

Shizune for her part was stunned. When Hal mentioned that to them that the ones who made the rings and essentially monitored and managed the Green Lantern's she was imagining what they looked like.

It wasn't the blue skin or the long white hair that he had. What shocked was his height.

'He has to be three feet tall at the least.' Shizune thought to herself.

Ganthet then bowed respectfully to her. "Greetings Ms. Shizune." he said in a voice and tone that had her picturing him like his grandfather.

"I believe that you are here to escort us to Lady Tsunade then?" he asked politely.

She shook her head to get herself out of her surprised stupor. "Uh...yes sir. If you don't mind." she replied.

"Of course not." said Ganthet. "However with your permission could Hal Jordan be able to find Naruto and have him join us later?"

Shizune gave it some thought. The Five Kage had planned for when it was time for Naruto to leave so she wasn't sure if that would fit into their plans. However he did say that Naruto would meet them later so it shouldn't be a problem.

"I don't see why not but why?" asked Shizune.

"Its nothing to worry about Ms. Shizune. It just that the Guardian council that I am a member of...to simply we don't get out that much. Usually when it comes to diplomatic matters we leave it to our Green Lantern's who are more then capable of handling it. However, your species is new to the intergalactic community so I felt it appropriate for one of us to come to meet one of your leaders directly." Ganthet explained.

"I see." said Shizune immediately starting to like this little guy. "Well then I don't see a problem as long as its about an hour or so."

"Thank you for your indulgence on this matter." said Ganthet bowing in respect. "Hal if you would?"

"Got it." Hal said, flying off to find Naruto.

"Now then shall we?" said Ganthet motioning to the door.

"What? Oh yes sir this way." said Shizune shaking her head after seeing Hal take off. Ganthet floated up to Shizune's height and hovered beside her as they entered the building ignoring the stares that followed them.

"Its my height isn't?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Shizune questioned.

"My height. The fact that a Guardian of the Universe is rather short is what shocked you isn't it?" he said with a smile on his face.

"Well..." Shizune had the grace to blush in embarrassment.

"It quite alright young lady. You'd be amazed how many species that have made our ranks are surprised when they see us for the first time."

Even though these people were here to take Naruto to their own planet, Shizune couldn't help but like the little blue old man at that moment.

**(Naruto's Apartment)**

Naruto had managed to get a few hours sleep before waking up just before the morning sun had risen. Since then he had been sitting cross-legged in his apartment. Curiosity got the better of him and decided to open the storage scroll of his clan.

To his delight he saw there were several scrolls inside, each with a symbol to identify themselves and each had one subject to teach him. The current one he was reading had the symbol for wind on it which meant wind ninjutsu but the other he saw had the Uzumaki symbol on it which meant for Fuuinjutsu.

That was just two of the scrolls. There were three others one that was tailored to his blood when he discovered his second nature transformation almost like a summoning contract except he just needed to apply his blood unto the seal that held the scroll. Another had what appeared to be the symbol of Konoha on it. He didn't know what it was but there was a note attached to it from Tsunade. He decided to see those two other scrolls after arriving on Oa.

Finally he saw a smaller scroll. This one was just a normal sealing scroll used to put objects in. When he used to summon the object in question it nearly brought him to tears.

There was a photo of his parents together with Kushina obviously pregnant with him with his father Minato siting next to her. After seeing this he immediately put it back into the scroll along with adding his photo of Team Kakashi into the scrolls summoning circle. He also put his pay stub into it and had all three items sealed inside the scroll.

Before he went to sleep last night Naruto made a decision. Even though he had his ring which, by Hal Jordan's own admission, was a weapon that was force to be reckoned with he could not rely on it and forgo everything he has learned. To be the best Green Lantern he could be he needed to keep his training as a shinobi as a big part of that process.

Needless to say both he and Kurama were pleased with his decision.

Naruto was currently reading up on the Wind style and its jutsu he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Naruto sighed and put the Wind scroll back into the sealing scroll and took a deep breath.

 **"Its time."**  said Kurama

 _"Yeah it is."_  Naruto responded as he sat up and walked to the door.

There standing was Hal Jordan.

"Hey kid." said Hal in greeting. Naruto was a little miffed at being called "kid" but he let it go as he was just being friendly.

"Mind if I come in?" Hal asked. Naruto nodded and ushered him into his apartment.

Hal looked around and saw modest but still large apartment inside. He saw very little but that was understandable with Naruto explaining albeit briefly about what happened to the village. Looking back at the rest of it Hal assumed that Naruto's apartment was also going through reconstruction.

"You live here all by yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" said Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing it just you're so young. Where are your parents?" Hal asked. Immediately he regretted when he saw the sadness in his eyes briefly.

"Their both dead." said Naruto. While he was happy to have met them at least once and was proud to be their child he still missed them. Strange even after one meeting he could but hey he loved them anyway.

Hal's eyes widened in hearing this. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too. But don't worry about." said Naruto.

"So...anything you wanted to talk about before we head out?" Hal asked trying to get the know the kid after an awkward silence.

"Actually there is one thing." Naruto said as he grabbed the lantern that was next to his newly inherited scroll. "Last time the ring told me I had thirty percent left in

power. When you left you didn't exactly tell me how to recharge it." he said deadpanned.

Hal rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah sorry about that. A lot of things were happening at the time with Tomar-Re dying and all but if you want I can show you now."

"Sounds like a good idea." said Naruto ready to learn how to recharge the ring.

"Well its actually not hard. All you have to do is put your hand into the lantern and speak the oath." said Hal.

'Oath? Tomar-Re mentioned it but I thought it was just him being delirious from the blood loss.' thought Naruto.

Naruto then raised the lantern and pushed his ring into the lantern. The area around the ring glowed as soon as it touched the lantern.

"Okay now repeat after me." Hal instructed to which Naruto nodded.

"In Brightest day." Hal said.

 **"In Brightest day."** Naruto repeated.

"In Blackest Night." Hal said.

**"In Blackest Night,**

**No Evil Shall Escape My Sight,**

**Let Those Who Who Worship Evil's Might,**

**Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light!** " Naruto and Hal together. Immediately after saying the oath Naruto could see the ring being charged with power.

More then that he could feel it. Almost as if he himself was being replenished by the battery as well.

When it finished Naruto found himself once again in uniformed which was seemingly brighter then it was before diminishing back to normal.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah I know. Its exhilarating when you charge it for the first time. Don't worry you'll get used to it." said Hal ending the lesson.

Naruto nodded then switched back to his civilian form.

"So we've got some time to kill at the moment" said Hal.

"Why? I thought we had to leave immediately." asked Naruto perplexed.

"Ganthet is meeting with Lady Tsunade at the moment. He said it would take an hour or so before he was ready to leave."

Naruto eyes widened in surprise upon hearing this. From his limited knowledge of the Guardians he knew that they did not venture out of the homeworld of Oa at anytime before now.

"Why is he here?" said Naruto voicing his thoughts.

"Not sure myself Naruto. Mostly I think its because of the fact that you guys are the first species that the Guardians themselves haven't heard about. I think he wants to learn more about you guys before we head out to Oa." said Hal. Naruto could understand that. Hal said that they couldn't find their race in the encyclopedia.

"Also I think he was looking to for an excuse to leave Oa for a while." said Hal.

"Okay but I thought Guardians don't leave Oa. Being the governing body for the Corps and all." said Naruto.

"Yeah about that..." said Hal rubbing the back of head trying to figure out how to say this correctly.

"Naruto I'm gonna be straight with you. Besides Ganthet and one other member, the Guardians can be pretty much sticks in the mud. I mean they make politicians on other planets look like saints. Mainly cause they pretty much have cut themselves off emotionally. In other words they are stiff and cold bastards most of the time. Don't get more wrong. They have done a lot of good for the universe at large. They are just very by the book." said Hal describing what Naruto would be in for.

"In other words, very old people who haven't seen the outside of their planet fortress for billions of years and have no experience on the outside universe of today. Sounds familiar." said Kurama to which Naruto silently agreed. As he would be meeting Ganthet and the rest of the council though he decided to reserve judgement of them before he compared them to the Konoha council.

"I'm guessing Ganthet is one of the exceptions then?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah thank goodness." said Hal with respect to the old man. "To be honest he's one of the few of them I can actually trust completely."

Judging by the confidence that Hal spoke about him Naruto was inclined to believe Hal. He'd have to speak to this Ganthet himself.

"Anything else you want to talk about?" We still got some time to kill." said Hal.

"Um yeah...I just acquired some money yesterday. Is there any way we can still use it? Being interstellar police/military and all?" he asked taking advantage of this opportunity to learn how to use one of the things he had been given.

"Easy just talk to the Green Lantern Salaak. Not only is he second in command to the Guardians but he handles those Lanterns who have currency from their home-worlds. It shouldn't be a problem given that you culture is very similar to my race's Japanese culture." Hal explain.

Naruto sighed in relief upon hearing that.

Naruto had another question that was burning in his mind but decided to table it until he was with both Ganthet and Hal. So Naruto decided to pass the time with make the conversation more about getting to know one another.

"How did you become a Green Lantern Hal?" he asked.

"Uh...well." said Hal caught off guard by his question. Hal had some difficulty answering mainly cause he was a little used to hiding his secret identity for so long. Still he had no real secrets with the rest of the Corps so why not?

Hal leaned against a wall.

"Well basically I was in this flight simulator on Earth..."  
 **  
** **(Hokage's Office)**

Ganthet was current floating in front of the window with Tsunade standing next to him staring at him as he looked upon the rebuilding of the village and going about their day.

When Shizune first introduced the small old man to her Tsunade, like Shizune, could not believe that this and the others like him were responsible for governing a elite military Corps never mind advising an entire universe. But as she got to talking with him she could see that this was someone who had experienced things she and the rest of her people could ever know.

She thought at first that she should be angry with him. Angry at the fact that him and the Green Lantern that came with him were here to take one of the best people she knew away. Someone she considered a grandson, a member of her family, away. But she had to remember that this was Naruto's choice. She knew he wouldn't budge on it. It just wasn't in him to give up this responsibility to someone else.

And she knew deep down inside that he needed this. Needed something to distract him from the pain of losing Sakura and having to kill Sasuke. As the old saying goes 'work is good for grief'.

And she could see that underneath that wisdom Ganthet was a kind man. She didn't know about the rest of the Guardians but at least with him he could trust.

Proof of this is when he had asked what had happened here on this world. Since her desk was destroyed she had chair put in front of her. While Ganthet had offered to just float while he listened Tsunade insisted being he was a guest to which the old man laughed and did as was asked.

She then went into full detail on what happened from when she became Hokage to when Sasuke defected all the way to the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War. She also explained to him further on her peoples Chakra Network which he seemed very interested in as he had not seen this many people with abilities except on Earth. The jutsus and techniques they employed surprised him the most.

 _'Evolution at one of its most unique examples.'_  he thought to himself. Ganthet had just sat there and listened to what she had to say. However surprisingly he did not ask about Naruto yet. This made her think that he would rather ask about him directly from the source. Which gave her more respect for him for doing so.

After she had finished Ganthet floated to the window looking at it.

He turned around with sadness on his face. "Lady Tsunade I cannot speak for the rest of my order but I wish to formally apologize to you."

"For what Ganthet?" said Tsunade confused on what he was on about.

Ganthet turned from the window to look at her directly"Tomar-Re was a gallant Green Lantern one of our finest. Had he known about the gravity and consequences of this war you were in had for your planet I am sure that he would have arrived to help. Even so I must ask your forgiveness in our oversight of this planet." said Ganthet.

"While the gesture is appreciated Ganthet we were able to handle it ourselves." said Tsunade.

"Yes you have." said Ganthet. "I'm guessing that Naruto played a major role in the outcome of this war?" he asked with a knowing smile on his face.

Tsunade saw that which meant he knew the answer already.

"Truth is Naruto is the only reason we are standing with our free will intact." said Tsunade. Ganthet was now further intrigued. Up until now the discussion had been more general in terms of topics. She had told him of Obito and Madara Uchiha's plan to remove the free will of everyone on the planet with Infinite Tsukuyomi and remove everyone's free will by placing them in an eternal genjutsu.

Ganthet had found it difficult to believe that such a thing was possible. Hence his further interest in the Ajnian's Chakra Network. It also made him wary of what the rest of the council would say when Naruto was presented to them"Near the end of the war me and my fellow Kage had vowed to defeat Madara so Naruto could face Obito thought we did not know his identity at the time." Tsunade put her hands together and her hands tightened at the thought. "Suffice it to say we failed and in the end Naruto ended up having to clean up our mess while taking Obito out at the same time. He had help from the rest of the Alliance but us five Kage, the supposed strongest ninja of the Five Elemental Nations, were left barely alive."

Ganthet could see the shame on her face as she clinched her teeth at the end of her explanation.

"If this Madara Uchiha was as powerful as you say then clearly you did everything you could to stop him."

"Even so we shouldn't have to rely on one person alone. That's probably the only good thing out of Naruto leaving. We need to learn to stand on our own without him." she said.

She then laughed a bit thinking how ironic it was to say that remembering seeing how she first met Naruto.

"May I inquire to what's amusing Lady Tsunade?" Ganthet inquired.

"Just thinking about how it was in an earlier time." she said.

"In any case I understand to some degree where you are coming from. There are...times myself that I wish I could fight alongside the Corps instead of simply sending them off to handle missions on our behalf as well" said Ganthet with regret in his voice. He then looked to the destroyed table that had yet to be replaced.

"Although I get the feeling I do not want to be you enemy Lady Tsunade." he said. Seeing the direction to where he was looking at Tsunade had the grace to blush in

embarrassment at the desk.

She decided they were getting off track and returned to the topic at hand. Namely Naruto's departure.

"Before you meet him there are a few things you need to know about Naruto. I can't tell you everything there are some things you will have to talk to him directly about. Suffice it to say...Naruto has had a tougher life growing up then most on our world. There are circumstances surrounding that I think it would be better to hear from him. But losing Sakura, my apprentice and the girl he loved, and having to kill Sasuke, his best friend, has left him somewhat withdrawn. But I can say this...he has one of the purest of hearts that I have ever seen. Even after everything he has gone through he has never given up. And he never will give up on anything. That's the kind of person he is." said Tsunade.

"Naruto made the decision to join your order Ganthet because he felt it was his responsibility after Tomar-Re died. That's the kind of young man you have joining your order and I..." she stopped from speaking for a bit.

"And you want to make sure he will be alright." said Ganthet.

"Yes." she said speaking not as the Hokage of Konoha but as someone who is as close a grandparent as Naruto ever had.

Ganthet took a deep breath. "Lady Tsunade I can't promise to keep him safe. As Hal has stated it is a tough life to lead."

"Naruto and tough are practically old friends." she joked. Then turned serious once again.

"But I can promise to help prepare him for his duties." said Ganthet. "Your race has just now become aware of the universe at large. Naruto, as well as your people, will need guidance more then protection. As you yourself have said. I cannot speak for the rest of the council but I can reassure you that he will be trained and ready for the life of a Green Lantern." said Ganthet

"I understand. I just want you to know that much about Naruto your going to have to ask him yourself. I can say that whatever his faults and whatever secrets he always does the right thing." said Tsunade with full support for Naruto.

Ganthet smiled at Tsunade's devotion to this boy that he had yet to meet yet he still had questions that needed to be answered but refrained from doing so. They had just met after all. He would be a poor guest if he just continually asked questions of one of its leaders.

Still there was one thing he did need to know.

"Answer me this final question if you would then." said Ganthet. Tsunade nodded wondering what it was that he wanted to ask.

"Does Naruto have an issue with authority?" he asked.

This one Tsunade had no trouble answering. "Yes. But only with those that he feels haven't earned his respect."

Again to her surprise Ganthet smiled.

"Then I know I'm going to like him." he said. Tsunade smiled. She was liking this guy more and more.

Ganthet had heard as much as he needed to. He then closed his eyes. It was time to contact Hal Jordan.

It was time.

**(Naruto's Apartment)**

Hal had finished telling Naruto how his flight simulator had been taken off its hinges to meet with the dying Abin Sur and had become a Green Lantern. It gave Naruto a feeling that they had something in common.

After words they just talked for a while. Naruto could see that Hal Jordan was a good guy. However, from when he talked about women he seemed to be less then committal to a long term relationship. Part of it he could see was the job but the rest really squared with him having trouble keeping it in his pants.

At least he was more subtle about it.

He had just finished talking about another of their members who happened to be a princess who ruled a planet from frontier space when suddenly he heard Ganthet's voice in his head.

 _ **"Hal its time. Bring Naruto to the Hokage's office."**_  he said then cut himself off.

"Break time's over kid. Time to go." said Hal.

Naruto nodded and immediately went to grab his scroll and strap it to his back. Naruto was about to grab his battery when a thought occurred.

"Hal can you show me how to open a portal into the pocket dimension that we use to put our batteries in?"

"Sure." said Hal pointing he ring at the wall near Naruto and opening the portal. Truth is Hal never felt comfortable putting his lantern in the mini black hole. Even though he had been told a thousand times from John that it was safe he still kept it in his locker on Ferris Fields when he was on Earth.

Naruto put his battery inside the portal and then closed himself after seeing Hal do it. All he had to do was concentrate on closing the dimensional rift with ring. The rest felt pretty natural as the ring's light surround the portal close it.

Seeing Naruto ready to leave they moved to the door. Naruto turned to have one last look at the place then moved to open the door.

Both him and Hal were shocked on what they saw behind it.

There were all the villagers, Tazuna's work crew, even some of the remaining members of the Allied Shinobi Forces there standing at his door. Right in front of him was Konohamaru to which Naruto knew was leading this pack of people.

"Konohamaru what's going on?" he asked still in a state of

hock at seeing

all these people here with smiles and sadness all the same.

"Granny Tsunade gave me and the rest of team Ebisu to tell the rest of the villagers that you were leaving. She said and I'm quoting 'Naruto is going to get a send off whether he likes it or not.' So here they are!" Konohamaru responded excitedly.

Naruto couldn't believe his ears or his eyes at hearing him say this. Or the sudden hug that surrounded his waist as he saw the person he considered his little brother hug him. Naruto hugged him back before Konohamaru let him go.

"C'mon you need to get to the office right?" said Konohamaru.

"I thought you would be trying to stop me?" Naruto questioned. Konohamaru looked at him seriously.

"Naruto after beating Madara and now joining this Green...whatever Corps." that comment made Hal's eyebrow twitch under his mask. "I think its safe to say that being Hokage isn't going to be enough for you anymore." he said with confidence.

Naruto kept a lump back in his throat as Konohamaru said these words. He took a deep breath, adjusted the strap that held his clan scroll and walked towards the Hokage's office.

All the while Hal stood there in silence watching these events unfold before him 'The way these people look at him with such hope and trust. One of the only other people I know that can have that kind of charisma is Superman.' Hal thought as he flew over to meet up with Ganthet.  
 **  
(On top of the Hokage's Residence building)**

Ganthet was watching from below with Tsunade watching Naruto now approach through the crowd of people watching their hero heading to the office. Though they didn't have an exact idea of what was going on they knew Naruto was leaving to a place unknown or seen by any of them before.

"I apologize Ganthet. I didn't mean to force to become apart of this. Its just that after everything I felt Naruto deserved a send off from the village" said Tsunade.

As Ganthet continue to watch as the boy made his way saying goodbye the villagers he couldn't help but feel their pride and adulation at Naruto. "Its quite fine. For one you expected Hal to be here not me. More importantly from what you have told me about Naruto I believe he has earned it."

Tsunade nodded to him in thanks. Just then Hal arrived and landed next to Ganthet.

"Ganthet are you seeing this?" questioned Hal looking down as Naruto approached the bottom of by the original Rookie Nine saying his final farewells to them.

"Yes I am." said Ganthet. After he said that he turned to see that Tsunade was no longer alone and saw the other four Kage were standing in attendance along with the man Ganthet figured was Killer Bee in attendance.

Eventually Naruto walked up to the balcony to see Tsunade, Oonoki, A, Mei, Gaara were standing with Lady Tsunade to his left while seeing Hal standing to his left alone with a very short blue man floating next to him.

Said floating man floated in front of him. "Hello Naruto Uzumaki. As Hal has already told you I am Ganthet."

Naruto stood nervous at first. "Um nice to meet you sir." said Naruto not sure how to approach him at the moment.

"Its all right. There's no need to be nervous." said Ganthet in a comforting tone like one were talking to his grandson.

Naruto took a deep breath. Between the unexpected send off as he walked into people who had come to witness him leaving to the moment of him leaving his homeworld it had taken some time to get over the shock of it all. Managing to control himself he turned to Gaara and Killer Bee.

"You two knew this was coming the whole time." said Naruto. Gaara and Killer Bee just shrugged their shoulders.

"Ahem." said Tsunade. Naruto took another deep breath as he walked to her.

"I guess this the part where you make it official then?" said Naruto.

"Before that we have to tell the people what's going on completely." said Tsunade.

The group then walked over to the balcony to view the crowd that covered the village. As they did the people on the ground looked up to see these strangers, the Kage and the hero that saved them all stand before them.

"Gaara." said Mei. Gaara turned to her. "As the Regimental Commander I think it best if you make the speech."

Gaara looked to Tsunade who nodded in return. While Naruto may have hailed from Konoha ultimately his victory was for them. And Gaara was Naruto's friend so it made the most sense to agree with her fellow Kage on this.

Gaara walked up a bit to get a better view of the people that were in the village.

"Today the person responsible for our victory in the Fourth Great Ninja War, the person who has made peace possible in the ninja world, will leave us today. That person as you know is the person next to me: Naruto Uzumaki." he began. The crowd roared at hearing his name but also they could hear sad pleas of 'don't go's' and 'please stays'.

"While this is painful to say farewell to the person who has been a hero to us all Naruto, above anyone of us here, has earned the right make this choice. He leaves not out of spite or anger." turning to Hal and Ganthet. "But out of a new duty. One not just to us but a larger plane of existence beyond any of us have ever imagined. For that is what he is. A protector. And whether he sees it or not, he is a hero." said Gaara. Naruto had to struggle to keep tears from coming out. Touched by Gaara's words.

"We all know the struggles that he has faced. What he has had to give up in order to bring peace to our world. As we move with new challenges that are presented we must learn to stand on our own and follow the example that he had left for us not just to honor him. But to prove that he had not left this world in vain"

"He joins an elite order from beyond the stars to help protect a larger community of worlds. And as sad as it is to see my friend leave I know, without a doubt, that he will be a great an asset to them, the Green Lantern Corps, as he has been to us!" yelled Gaara. The rest of the people cheered as loudly.

As Ganthet and Hal watched on he whispered to the Guardian. "I'm starting to feel a little guilty here. It feels like we are taking the second coming here." said Hal.

"I agree. Tsunade told me that Naruto was important but this..." Ganthet himself had rarely seen anyone gather this much of a response from their people and peers.

"Indeed." said Ganthet deep in thought.

For Naruto's part he felt grateful that Tsunade and Gaara had this planned even though he still didn't see himself a hero.

"Naruto Uzumaki." called Tsunade which had him stand at attention. "As Hokage of Konohagakure, I hereby dismiss you from you duties as ninja of the village." she grabbed his shoulders. "Do me one favor though?"

"Name it Granny." said Naruto.

"Be the best Green Lantern they got." she said. Naruto smiled.

"Yes Ma'am." said Naruto.

"Take care of yourself Naruto Uzumaki." said Gaara walking up with his hand raised. This time Naruto took it without Gaara needing sand to force him to.

"Always...Brother." said Naruto. That last comment gave Gaara a very rare smile.

Naruto turned to the others. "Hey A. Make sure your brother doesn't get into anymore trouble."

"What you talking about son. After this I'm gonna-" Killer Bee was saying before getting punched behind the head. That was all the answer Naruto needed.

Turning he walked to in front of Oonoki and Mei.

"I don't know you guys all that well but I have to say I hope you guys can make whatever this is work. Cause this world needs the Elemental Nations to work together." he said.

"You can count on us Naruto Uzumaki." said Mei.

"We will hold up to what you have inspired us to do." said Oonoki.

Naruto nodded then walked over to Ganthet and Hal Jordan.

"Are you ready to make the journey to Oa Naruto Uzumaki?" asked Ganthet. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment remembering everything that has happened to him since he graduated the Academy Moments such as when he first met his team and Kakashi-Sensei, his first mission and the battles with Zabuza and Haku which defined his ninja way, meeting Gaara and the Chuunin

Exams which would lead to Sasuke's path to darkness. His fight with Gaara, meeting Tsunade and Jiraiya, his fights with Sasuke where he failed to bring him in and vowed to somehow keep his promise to Sakura. Jiraiya becoming his teacher, his training under him. Becoming friends with Kurama and attaining his true power as a Jinchuuriki and defeating Madara and Obito Uchiha.

His mind fast-forwarded through the losses he had suffered. His parents when he was an infant, Jiraiya his mentor and Godfather, then finally to again seeing Sakura's corpse and the death of Sasuke Uchiha.

This all lead to when Tomar-Re's ring found him and took him there and from there helped him make his decision. To become a Green Lantern.

When Naruto opened his eyes again they were green and his uniform immediately appeared on him in brief but vibrant flash of green light.

"I'm ready." said Naruto with determination. Ganthet and Hal nodded at this.

"You ready Kurama?" Naruto asked.  
 **  
"Hell yes! Lets go!"**  said Kurama. Naruto could tell he was excited about this. Truth is Naruto was as well. A new adventure awaited them both now.

He turned to the five Kage once again and looked straight at Tsunade who had the same look of sadness and pride as she had when he left to join the war. With that look Hal, Ganthet and Naruto both rocketed into the sky leaving green afterimages of themselves. As they did the crowd from the ground could see them fly off like green comets headed into the sky. The fell silent as they saw their hero, for some their friend, leave for a new venture.

 _'Good Luck Naruto.'_ Tsunade thought to herself.

**(Forest area far outside of Konoha)**

However unbeknownst to anyone, outside of the village a cloaked figure looked upon the event. As the three flew up into the sky the person in question he looked upon it with curiosity.

Morbid fascination gleaming from golden, slitted snakelike eyes.  
 **  
(Above Ajnin's atmosphere)**

Naruto, Hal and Ganthet had just left the atmosphere of Ajnin and headed towards its orbit. Naruto had turned around after making sure that the scroll which contained his items was still secure. As he was doing that, he looked around the emptiness of space and had to think to himself what this meant.

He was actually in space. Above his planet.

"Having some trouble adjusting Naruto?" said Hal.

"A little bit give a minute." he said. Both Hal and Ganthet were thankful that while in flight the ring created a personal shield so that Green Lanterns can breathe.

"Disorientation is expected Naruto. Take deep breaths to calm yourself." Ganthet advised.

Naruto did as he asked keeping himself calm. He then looked down to his home planet below him.

Naruto had seen the beauty of his planet on surface. But he had never known what it looked like from above space. As he saw his whole planet for the very first time Naruto could not help but be amazed at the multicolored planet below him.

 **"That's one hell of view Kid. Should have done this sooner."**  said Kurama also impressed with the view they were privy to.

"Nothing quite like is it? Seeing a world from a distance for the first time." said Hal.

"...Yeah." said Naruto in astonishment. Shaking his head he turned to Hal and Ganthet.

"I'm sorry about that Ganthet I understand that we should be heading to Oa quickly. We've wasted too much time as it is." said Naruto.

"No apology necessary Naruto. Every new recruit gets disoriented and astonished when they leave their homeworld and see it in space for the first time." Ganthet responded.

"I'm guessing we have a distance to travel." said Naruto.

"Yeah even at top speed its going to take us at least a day to reach Oa. The Aku system is one of the farthest systems in Sector 2813 from Sector 0000." said Ganthet agreeing with Naruto's rough assessment.

"If you want Ganthet you can teleport back to Oa. Let the council know that Naruto will meet with them when we arrive.

"As generous as that is Hal I much prefer to travel with you. I have been looking forward to speaking with our newest recruit. The time it takes to reach Oa will be fine for that." said Ganthet.

Naruto felt strangely honored that a Guardian wanted to speak with him directly before returning to the council.

"Well in that case," said Hal who then formed a shuttle construct around them. Naruto found himself on small shuttle with two seats in the back space apart and one pilot chair with Hal at the controls.

"Since this is your first space flight I figure we'd just have you sit down and let me do the flying. Believe me kid flying through space can be very very dangerous." he said.

Naruto was about to protest when Kurama stepped in to talk to him in his mind.  
 **  
"Kid the guy's not kidding. Space maybe mostly empty but who knows what we could run into out there from comets, spaceships, even being stuck in a gravitational well. We both know you haven't flown in space yet so lets take this slowly."**  Kurama advised.

"Yeah your right Kurama. Thanks." Naruto responded mentally already feeling tired. So he moved to the left seat, unstrapped his scroll and put it on the floor and sat down.

What Naruto wasn't paying attention to as he did was Ganthet watching him. Being a telepathic species he knew when someone was having a telepathic conversation.

'But who is he talking to though?' he thought to himself. It was question he decided to ask when they were alone ad he sat down to the right seat.

"Fasten you seat belts have your table trays in the upright position." Hal joked as he grabbed the controls. The ship started to move towards Oa at light-speed. Naruto hadn't felt anything but could still see from his side window that the ship was going very fast.

"So Naruto I imagine you must have questions." inquired Ganthet. "We now have some time to talk if you wish."

"Just one question Ganthet sir." said Naruto.

"Naruto please just call me Ganthet. Sir makes me feel old." said Ganthet with a smile as he leaned back on his seat with his hands crossed.

"He makes jokes that's something." said Kurama.

"Okay Ganthet. There's just one question that I have at the moment that I feel like I need answered."

"And that is?" said Ganthet.

"Why me? Why was I chosen out of all the others on my planet? I know the ring seeks out those who have the ability to overcome fear but a lot of my people can do that. So why did it choose me?" Naruto questioned looking down at his ring hand.

"I suppose that's the only question that really matters." said Ganthet. "Avraa felt the same way when he was chosen."

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"Avraa the First Green Lantern." this came from Hal as he was steering the ship. "Its one of the first stories you learn. Guess with everything we got sidetracked a bit."

"Indeed. I know you speak the stories well Hal but perhaps you should let me tell him this time." Ganthet suggested.

"Good idea might give him a better perspective from one of the people that knew him." said Hal

"Indeed." said Ganthet turning back to Naruto. "To quote scripture Naruto. "The first one given a ring was not the First Lantern." Ganthet began.

"The first was Avraa."

**End Chapter**

_I Live! So sorry about this being so overdue. To give you guys a little thing about me the place I work at has me working from ten fifty-five am to seven fifteen pm. So that doesn't give me a lot of time to write. Doesn't help that the CN has completed their blasphemy by cancelling both GLTAS and YJ. I make this vow to you Ladies and Gentlemen that I will not abandon this story. I also apologize that now Naruto is heading to Oa. Not to spoil too much but I think you will like what I have there._

_As for this chapter I felt that Naruto's farewell from Ajnin was needing to be two fold given how I left the last chapter off in a cliff hanger. What I did not expect was to be as long as it is. My longest chapter to date. The next one should be shorter though. Don't know if this will do the farewel justice but that's up to you guys. Truth is I still doubt that I can manage to pull this off. But I will not abandon this story. I will do my best to give you guys my best story I can muster. Just still not sure it will be any good._

_Another thing that's overdue is the artwork I have posted for my avatar profile picture. This will be the outfit that Naruto will be wearing sooner rather then later. The artwork belong to Jarein and you can find his page here:_

jarein . Deviantart . Com

_Just remove the caps and spaces._

_Trust me its well worth your time to check out his work. Thank you all for your patience. I will begin work on next chapter soon but I have to work six days this week...real life sucks._

_See you all soon._


	6. This is Boot Camp!

**(Anti-Matter Universe, Qward)**

Sinestro wasn't in the best of moods as he approached Qward's atmosphere and made his descent to the planet's surface.

It had taken him over a week to return to the anti-matter universe after Tomar-Re attached that rocket launcher onto his chest. He had nearly fallen into the Aku system's sun before he finally managed to remove it from his chest and just barely managed to escape the sun's gravitational pull.

Sinestro wanted to return to Ajnin but knew that Tomar-Re, as a last dying act, would have sent a message to Oa. By the time he got back Lanterns would already be on the scene and he did not want to face any other Lanterns on that day. Thus he opened a portal to return to his home-base.

 _'Well played Tomar-Re.'_  he thought to himself giving Tomar-Re a grudging amount of respect.

He was above ground level of the barren, rocky planet and flying towards the only visible civilization on the planet.

A ruined city made of still working equipment and housing with a large yellow power battery at the center of it all. This was the home of the Sinestro Corps. As he floated above he saw the Qwardians working on the rings and power batteries of each individual member. The members of his Corps were comprised of the most vile deviants, murderers, and mercenaries that the universe had to offer with it continuing to grow albeit slower than the Green Lantern Corps at present.

He flew over to the area and could see his second in command Arkillo training the new recruits they had gathered, easily spotting Arkillo's large grey form standing tall and imposing his fearsome beast-like face watching the movements of the two sparing with the rest watching.

Said combatants were a recruit and Romat-Ru, another senior member of the Sinestro Corps.

Ironically he was also Xudarian, the same species as the Green Lantern who had prevented Sinestro from completing his mission.

As Romat-Ru and the recruit with met sword and shield constructs, the clanging and slashing of their weapons echoing on the field, Arkillo and the rest watched them. Arkillo then turned to see their leader float down.

"Sinestro! Welcome home!" Arkillo greeted his leader as he landed next to him.

"Arkillo." Sinestro acknowledged watching the spectacle unfold as Romat-Ru easily blocked, deflected, or dodged the recruits' amateurish attempts of hitting him.

"I see that we have several new recruits. How fare they and how many?"

"Romat-Ru and Karu-Sil managed to find some on several worlds in sector's 3545 and 0011." said Arkillo seeing Romat-Ru go on the attack. "They are enthusiastic but..." they both glanced as Romar-Ru destroyed the recruits shield. The recruit made a desperate thrust with his sword construct but Romar-Ru simply avoided it and hit him with his shield in the stomach before finishing him off by hitting him with the bottom of his sword hilt knocking him out but not killing him.

"Short of skill." said Arkillo as if stating the obvious.

"Keep at them then to make sure they reach the level we need them to be." ordered Sinestro. "The Khundians are planning on moving to invade several potential worlds in sector 1013 and maybe even try to move out to frontier space outside of Guardian controlled territory. We must be prepared."

"It would help if The Weaponer and his flock would enable our rings to track recruits just like the damned Green Lantern rings do. Without it we have to expose our own to being possibly being captured or killed. Even yourself." Arkillo explained.

"Believe me my friend, I share your concern. Especially now." said Sinestro turning from the sport that their fellow veteran member was having with another hapless recruit. Walking with Arkillo listened intently.

"I assure you I will be seeing The Weaponer about this matter later, as he informed me he was close to a breakthrough before I left." said Sinestro.

"I take it that your mission to this new world called Ajnin did not go well?" asked Arkillo.

"No, it did not." grumbled Sinestro his anger returning. "Tomar-Re was there. I managed to give him a fatal wound but not before he launched me away from Ajnin's orbit and nearly into Aku's sun!"

"And you think his ring may have chosen someone from that world?" Arkillo asked.

Sinestro nodded. "Hence why I need to see The Weaponer to see if the tracking beacon for our rings is finally ready." he took a moment to calm himself. "Continue training the recruits Arkillo. And prepare for more." said Sinestro. He then flew off into the direction of the central battery.

As he saw him fly off Arkillo noticed something in Sinestro's voice that he was not accustomed to hearing. The thing his corps was meant to instill not succumb to.

Fear.

'What did she say to him?' he thought to himself as he returned to instruction of the recruits.

Sinestro flew towards the central battery. There underneath it were the workshops and mines of the Qwardians working on new rings and batteries. Above them supervising their construction was The Weaponer. A large muscular humanoid though not as a tall as Arkillo or quite as muscular he was still imposing in his own way.

"I take it the mission to Ajnin proved less then fruitful?" he asked when Sinestro landed behind him. To his continued annoyance The Weaponer didn't turn around when he asked his question.

"No unfortunately it did not. Tomar-Re interfered before I could find the recruit that would be suitable to our needs." he answered. "Of course it would have been simple had you finished the tracking program in the rings to seek out new hosts. If you had, our forces, including myself, wouldn't have to go out and find them ourselves."

"Then I have good news for you Sinestro." said The Weaponer turning to look at him through the almost binocular like eyes of his roman style helmet. He had a grin on his face when he said it.

"Thanks to our latest assignment from our newest client, the Khundians, we have managed to finally gain enough credits to begin the process of programming the rings to do just that. Once we are finished the rings will be able to seek out those who are capable of instilling fear just as those of the Green Lanterns seek out those who seek out those who seek out those face it." The Weaponer explained.

"How soon can you have it done?" Sinestro asked.

"By the end of the week at the latest. My workers are working on it nonstop, per your orders." responded The Weaponer with a hint of indignation in his voice.

Sinestro picked up on this but decided to let it slide for now.

"When they are ready I want the first ring to be sent to Ajnin immediately." he ordered.

"It may already be too late." said voice behind him.

He turned to see Lyssa Drak, the keeper of the book of Parallax, standing before him and The Weaponer. What species she was a Talokite from the planet of Talok IV.

By all accounts she was beautiful. Deep blue skin with long flowing black hair nestled around her pointed ears. Her outfit that she wore more then made that apparent. Said outfit consisted of a black loin cloth that stretched to barely cover her breasts and reached down to her lower regions and black thigh high boots. She also wore a black cloak which collared by a pin in front of her collar as well as another that held her loin cloth together. To finish she wore circular earrings on each of her elf like ears.

However, despite her beauty, Sinestro could never mistake that controlled yet passionate almost maniac like look in her golden eyes as she held the Book of Parallax in her chained right hand. The chain he himself forged on her.

As historian of the Sinestro Corps her duties were two-fold. Her primary duties consisted of documenting and writing the stories and exploits of the Corps just as the Book of Oa does for the Green Lanterns. Her second duty however came when Arkillo was done training the recruits. When he had deemed them ready they were to go to her. It was there that they would have their rings drained of power and then forced to go into a Fear Lodge to face their darkest fears.

To either conquer them or die.

"What do you mean Lyssa?" asked Sinestro.

"I mean that the one we sought has already been chosen for a Corps and it is not ours." she responded.

"You mean Tomar-Re's ring has found one from that world? And it is the one that you saw in the book?" said Sinestro.

"Yes. His ring found someone of that world to be a Green Lantern. However, as of yet I am unsure wither he or she is the one that we were after from Ajnin." Lyssa answered.

"Sinestro what is she talking about?" said The Weaponer curious as to why it seemed that they both seem to look for a specific individual from the unknown world of Ajnin.

"It is none of your concern!" yelled Sinestro shocking them both. Seeing their responses Sinestro quickly calmed himself. "Just...make sure the tracking system for the rings is ready and send the first one of many to Ajnin. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sinestro. It shall be done." said The Weaponer.

"Lyssa with me." he said flying away from him with Lyssa in tow. As the The Weaponer turned back to the workhouses of his people he couldn't help but notice the twinge of fear that was in Sinestro's voice.

It put a smile on his face.  
 **  
** **(Archive Tower)**

"Read it to me again." said Sinestro as they entered the Archive Tower. In here is where the Fear Lodges, the device designed to weed out the recruits who could handle and control their own fears and those who couldn't. It was also where Lyssa Drak could safely record the events of the Corps.

"I don't see how it will help. As I said before I am unsure wither or not it is the one we seek." said Lyssa trying to explain the situation to him in order to calm him. However she had already opened the Book of Parallax and was skimming its pages.

"Just read me the damn passage again!" said Sinestro.

"Very well." she said. The skimming ended on the one page that she was looking for. "Before I do I must remind you that while the Book does, along with recording our events, has the ability to make prophecies. However, these things are not certain and are always subject to change."

She looked down at the page.

 _"A forgotten race will reemerge. This race will possess a power that will illuminate them to the rest of the universe at large. One of this race shall join the Emotional Spectrum and in turn become pivotal in not only the War of Light but to the universe. Where darkness and fire cometh, he will join with others to face it."_  recited Lyssa.

Now Sinestro had never, nor would ever, believe in such a prophecy, at least not in the literal sense that his old friend Abin Sur would. Sinestro was of course a practical man at heart.

However along with recording the events and deeds of the Sinestro Corps the Book of Parallax offered Lyssa the gift of limited foresight. And the fact that he recently discovered such a world as Ajnin was no coincidence.

If there existed a power on the planet that could aid in his quest for order in the universe then he had to acquire it. At any cost.

He only hoped it wasn't too late.

**(Space Sector 0000. Heart of Guardian Space)**

Naruto was sitting in his seat in the shuttle construct of Hal Jordan looking down and fingering his ring. Ganthet had just finished his tale about Avraa the First Green Lantern. It gave him perspective on where his ring had been.

Or rather the heroes who had worn it before him; and the challenges he would face trying to live up to its legacy.

After telling his tale Ganthet had just closed his eyes and sat there meditating. As if he was contemplating something.

In the meantime Naruto was getting a little bored so he decided it was time to look at one of the scrolls given to him by Tsunade, mainly the one had a note that he guessed was from her.

He took the scroll out of the storage scroll. He then began to read it.

What he found surprised him.

 _'What the hell?'_  thought Naruto. He rubbed his eyes out to make sure they were okay. He looked down at the scroll to confirm what he saw.

The scroll was filled with medical jutsu. Nothing advanced just basic first aid and healing jutsu.

 **'Why the hell does this thing have medical jutsu in there?'** asked Kurama. Naruto decided then to open up the note from Tsunade hoping get some answers.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you are reading this letter then you are aware that I added a scroll containing limited healing jutsu. I can probably guess that you are wondering why since you yourself can admit to having no previous knowledge of the subject._

_While it is true that your aptitude is far more suited to conditions in battle I felt that since you decided to become a Green Lantern I just thought you should be prepared as much as possible._

_Now then, the jutsu as you can probably surmise isn't necessarily for yourself. Since you have proven to have a remarkable healing factor thanks to Kurama, this is something for you to learn to heal or sustain others that have been injured. Basically its first aid. Jutsu to heal broken bones, lacerations, and if necessary to keep someone alive until someone with true proficiency in the medical field can fill for you._

_This training however is completely optional though. If and when you return to visit you can just give it back. However I do suggest that you read it first before making the decision to just leave it your storage scroll._

_I hope you will find happiness in your new life Naruto._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade Senju, Fifth Hokage._ __  
  
Naruto looked at the note for another second before putting it down to consider what it meant. On the one hand he can freely admit that his style had always been in combat. Being able to save lives by taking the fight to the enemy was his way and that could never change.

On the other hand as he looked at the medical scroll before him he saw that the techniques that Tsunade had left him were indeed what she said they were. One thing he noticed was that all of them were a form of chakra manipulation. Something he was rather good at.

 _'It would be nice to do something with my chakra other than just use it to fight...or kill.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he looked at his hands.

 **'Agreed. Plus these techniques are relatively easy.'**  Kurama responded.

Naruto nodded. The decision was made to add the scroll of limited medical jutsu into his training on Oa. Compared to everything else he was going to do this wasn't going to take long to master the techniques.

"Something the matter Naruto?" asked Ganthet who sitting across from him and observing his behavior with the scroll.

"Oh it's nothing Ganthet, just something unexpected was in my inheritance from the Hokage." said Naruto.

Ganthet nodded though he knew that Naruto was still hiding something. It must have something to do with the scroll that Naruto was examining.

"I'm going to assume that it has something to do with that scroll. Some jutsu that she recommended that you learn?" he asked.

"Did Granny tell you that?" said Naruto

"Pardon?" questioned Ganthet.

"Sorry it's what I call Tsunade. I tend to give nicknames to some people." said Naruto realizing his mistake.

"Ah, as a form of affection then." said Ganthet with a knowing smile.

"Yeah I kinda consider her my grandmother in some respects and my big sister in others." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head.

"I see." said Ganthet with a knowing smile. "To answer your initial question yes Lady Tsunade and I talked about many things going on in your planet. I wanted to learn more about your race. From your culture, your history, and also the chakra network that you employ. I found it to be very reassuring."

"How were you reassured?" asked Naruto.

"I was reassured that even after so many billions of years that there are still things in the universe that we have not seen yet." said Ganthet

Naruto smiled at that.

"Sorry to cut this short guys but we're in Oa's orbit. I'm about to disperse the construct." said Hal from the cockpit as he sat up from the pilot's seat.

Ganthet himself had floated out of his seat while Naruto put the medical ninja scroll back into the containment scroll. Afterwards he strapped it on his back and reactivated his environment shield.

"We are ready Hal Jordan." said Ganthet.

Hal nodded and suddenly the ship construct they were in disappeared around them and Naruto found himself in space once again. After shaking off his brief disorientation he looked down.

His eyes widened in awe as he saw the planet below.

'Whoa.' thought Kurama which was exactly Naruto's first thought.

The planet Oa was to say the least not like his home planet. For one thing it was a complete ethereal green with what looked like two Saturn rings on the bottom and top of the planet. It was also at least twice the size of Ajnin with a small moon that seemed stationary over it.

What really hit home for Naruto was the fact that he and Kurama were actually here in another system, in the presence of another world.

He then felt a hand on his back. He turned to look at Hal.

"View gets even better on the planet." he said with a smile.

Naruto nodded and followed both him and Ganthet down to the planet. When they got close to it he turned to look at the moon that was around Oa. As he looked at it, the moon actually was closer in size to Ajnin. It also had the Green Lantern symbol on it.

What was weird was that it seemed to watch him as they flew down to Oa.

As they flew past the atmosphere and onto the planet's surface, Naruto's awe transformed to wonder. His eyes widened even more as he saw the whole planet seemed to be one big city. The whole planet was a technological marvel.

"Been a lot of planets but there's no place like Oa." said Hal seeing Naruto looking at it all with wonder and, for the first time in a while, excitement.

"Indeed." said Ganthet in agreement.

"Brother Ganthet!" a feminine voice called. They turned and saw another Guardian like Ganthet flying towards them. Only this one was a woman and she had her hair wrapped up in a bun with a pony tail on top.

"Sayd," Ganthet greeted. "Allow me to introduce Naruto Uzumaki from the planet Ajnin."

"Hello." said Naruto bowing to her. 'Didn't know there were any female Guardians.' he thought to himself.

"Hello and welcome to Oa young Lantern." she responded to him before turning her attention back on Ganthet. "Ganthet the council is awaiting your return." she said her tone filled with worry.

Ganthet let out a sigh. "Very well Sayd. I shall meet them at the Planetary Citadel." he then turned to Hal. "Would you mind seeing to Naruto's quarters to help him get settled Hal?"

"No problem." said Hal.

"Hang on." Naruto interrupted. "Shouldn't I meet with the Guardians as well?" he asked.

"Normally Naruto you are correct. New recruits do usually meet with the Guardians so that we can learn more about them and whatever changes that have occurred in their species or, in your case, new species to learn about." said Sayd. "However, the council feels that since Ganthet has already visited your world himself we can receive the information of your world from him."

"Being that the Guardians have very high telepathic abilities, they can literally share minds with each other." Hal explained understanding where Sayd was going.

"Oh I see." said Naruto understanding.

"You will meet the council once you have completed your training." said Ganthet. "Now if you will both excuse me." he said preparing to follow Sayd to the Citadel. Before he did he turned back to Naruto.

"We will speak again soon Naruto." he said with a reassuring smile.

Naruto watched them both fly off. 'What else would Ganthet want to speak to me about?' he thought to himself.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Hal Jordan shaking him from his thoughts.

"C'mon kid. It's starting to get late." said Hal. Naruto then looked to see that Hal was right. The sun was beginning to set on Oa.

They flew until they reached what looked like an apartment complex. As they entered the lobby it seemed pleasant enough. It had a garden to the left and a computer at the front desk. From there they saw the computer already had Naruto's name and were informed that his room was ready on the third floor.

The door of the room automatically opened to let them inside. Naruto for his part was very happy with his room. It looked to be at least twice the size of his apartment building with a full kitchen, bathroom and large bed to sleep on. Like the lobby and the rest of the building it was colored in dark green.

"I'll let you get settled in. My advice is to get some rest. You're going to need it."

"For what?" Naruto asked his eyes back on Hal.

"Your training." he said with smirk on his face. "I'm escorting you and one other recruit to the Hazard Simulation Facility to meet with your instructor." said Hal. Naruto nodded in understanding and Hal left him in the room.

When the door closed Naruto managed to take off the container scroll place it next to the bed. From there he saw a window and saw the city that he was just above.

"Hell of a view." he said.

 **'Yeah it is.'**  Kurama agreed. Naruto then moved from the window to the bed. However, instead of heading to sleep he rolled over to where he laid out the scroll container and pulled out the scroll which contained the Wind nature transformation jutsu. He then rolled it out and studied.

**'Naruto while I am glad that you wish to study the jutsu of your prime element should you not take Hal's advice and get some sleep? I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a long day if Hal's hint at the training day is what it seems to be.'**

_'I will Kurama. Just...not yet okay.'_ Naruto responded.

Kurama just shrugged and stayed quiet and allowed Naruto to study the scroll.

**(Planetary Citadel)**

Ganthet stood in his own position again in the council chambers. His and the rest of the council's eyes were glowing white as they examined all the information that Ganthet had gathered from his time on Ajnin. When they finished their eyes had returned to their normal green.

"Interesting is it not?" said Ganthet.

"Indeed. At first I had thought them too similar to the people of Earth. Instead it seems they have managed to, for the most part; end the inner conflicts even though it took what it appears four world wars to do it. While it may seem to be behind the humans who have at this point only suffered two, the Ajnian people seem on the road to peace."

"That alone makes them a step beyond the humans and some other races as well in this regard." said Ranakar. What stood him apart from his brethren was his temper. He was also more judgmental like Appa. However, unlike Appa, the one thing you could respect about him was he had for the most part no ulterior agenda and was honest to a fault.

"However," he continued. "What concerns me is the way that they have found to use their self-called "chakra network". From what we have glimpsed from Ganthet's mind these people have created techniques that make most standard weapons of war look like toys."

"It is also where their source of medicine comes from, as you no doubt already know seeing as you have scanned from my mind with my conversation with Lady Tsunade." said Ganthet already knowing where this was going. "You believe this is what made Sinestro was looking for don't you Brother Ranakar?"

"What makes you think he still isn't trying to find a recruit?" he responded. That was the question on everyone's mind.

"Which brings us to the matter of our recruit from Ajnin." said Appa. "While you were thorough with your determining of the general population of Ajnin and its history Ganthet you have yet to provide any information about this Naruto Uzumaki himself."

Ganthet sighed. "It's true. Mainly because Lady Tsunade herself told me that we should ask him directly. All that I was able to determine is that according to her Naruto was the main reason as to why the war had ended though she refused to go into any details about his life. The only other thing that I determined is when she spoke of the incident with Kyuubi no Kitsune otherwise known as the-"

"The Nine-Tailed Fox." Appa interrupted. "We know the translation their language is no different from Earth's Japanese language. What of it?"

"Does it not seem strange that this creature, who sounds something truly to be concerned with, supposed destruction happens to be the same day that Naruto was born?" asked Ganthet.

"A coincidence." said Appa.

"We all know that there is no such thing." replied Sayd.

"Be that as it may," said Ganthet dismissing Sayd. "The boy does present a mystery to us. We shall have to monitor him closely."

"With respect Appa I wish to handle the situation of Naruto myself." said Ganthet.

"Is this because of the promise you made with Ajnin's Hokage?" questioned Ranakar.

"Yes it is." Ganthet responded without hesitation.

"Be careful Ganthet. I fear you are letting emotion cloud your judgment." said Appa.

"Regardless of what I...feel, Naruto is new to the galactic stage. He will need guidance and instruction before his training is done and becomes a full member of the Corps." said Ganthet.

The council looked to themselves for a moment. "He speaks the truth Appa. The boy and his race were unaware of the existence of other worlds until now. The new recruit will need instruction. Who better then one of us?" said one of the Guardians.

"Very well." Appa exclaimed tired of this argument. "You may do as you wish with the boy Ganthet."

Ganthet smiled in silent victory. However, he needed to tread lightly with the council. He was already getting flack from making his theory about the emotion of Hope bolstering the power of Will and for making a prototype blue battery. Even though they were down a member of the council they were not opposed to banishing their own.

But it did mean being able to find out what made their new recruit have such high praise on his world.

**(Naruto's room. 0600 Oa time.)** **  
**   
**(Flashback)**

"We both knew this was coming." said Sasuke wincing from his fight with Sakura. Even in grief and anger, Naruto could tell that Sasuke was still recovering from the fight he had with her. The healing factor he received from Orochimaru, though not as proficient as his, had healed any major injuries he suffered from rather quickly.

"This is how it has been since the Hagoromo's sons came to be. They started it this long ago and deep down you knew that it would only end when one of the two legacies they left behind would die off. But you refused to listen and this is the result." said Sasuke. He then looked to Sakura's corpse.

"She was here to try to do what you apparently couldn't do. She was in my way and she died for it." he said pointing at Sakura's corpse. He then lowered his hand and looked at Naruto who had he is head held low.

"You think you should be Hokage? When you falter and cry like that!? Even if you managed to defeat and land the final blow against Madara I can still defeat you by just killing people you love!" Sasuke yelled trying to use a similar tactic that Obito used. Naruto didn't even seem to hear the words. All he could think on was that this...monster who had once been his best friend, someone he considered his brother, had killed the woman who loved.

The woman that Naruto loved.

Before Sasuke could continue his tirade Naruto raised his head. Sasuke had seen his eyes when he was enraged from the last time they battled on this Valley, with the Nine-Tail's influencing him.

Sasuke didn't see that this time. His eyes were still blue and the irises were normal. However, the warmth he had seen them with before was gone. These were no longer the eyes of the Naruto that he knew that was naïve. These were the eyes of one who had just cold, hard, focused rage.

One thought on his mind.  _ **'This ends here.'**_

Silently saying that he had enough talk Naruto pulled out the only kunai that he managed to find before running after Sakura. Almost faster than Sasuke could see, the traitor barely managed to unsheathe his chokuto to block the attack.

From there the images began to blur from one moment of the battle to the next. One moment they were both running after each other at blinding speed and the next they were dashing at each other, the clashing of their weapons echoing over the valley with Sasuke barely managing to hold his own with his skill with the sword. Naruto however was relentless in his assault, and was steadily gaining ground.

 **'Kid.** ' said the voice of Kurama but it sounded so soft it might as well been mile awa.

The images blurred again to another moment where Naruto, in Sage Mode, grabbed Sasuke's sword and broke it in half and then punched him in the face so hard it sent him into the statue of Madara, cracking its base. Sasuke was kneeling in the water his nose broken and bleeding along with his mouth while sheathing his broken chokuto.

 **'Kid!'** Kurama's voice started yelling and it was getting louder. Naruto's only attention however was on his battle.

Moments blurred again with Sasuke in full Susanoo using both his Rinnegan and Sharigan eyes to their limit as they started to bleed from the strain. However, a blast from Naruto, in his Tailed Beast Mode enhance by the Senjutsu of the Six Paths and a complete and whole Kurama blew him away as the force of the tailed beast bomb broke through his empowered Susanoo and making into the lake below as the statues and surrounding area were destroyed.

He transformed back to normal. Naruto's clothes in shreds and his mouth bleeding and his head cut open but he was healing quickly. He could sense it. Sasuke had little to no chakra left, but still moved in to attack.

The moment blurred again almost as if the memory was on fast forward, to the point where Naruto, with Sasuke's broken sword in his hand, had it centimeters away from Sasuke's neck.

**(End Flashback)**

**'Kid!'**  screamed Kurama which finally woke Naruto up. The abrupt noise had him sitting up on the apartment bed. He was breathing heavy and his face was sweating profusely.

 _'Uh...did I fall asleep?'_  Naruto questioned. The last thing he remembered was reading one jutsu in the wind scroll, some sort of tornado shield, when he started dreaming about the battle with Sasuke.  
 **  
** **'Yeah you dozed off. I told you you were tired from the journey but no, you didn't listen to me.'**  said Kurama chastising him. While it was true that in class Naruto fell asleep quite a bit, when it came to learning jutsu from a scroll or practicing it he was always wide awake.

Naruto just rubbed his head as he tried to get himself awake. He then used his ring to create a construct of a clock to see what time it was. It showed him it was six in the morning.

 **'Hal Jordan should be appearing anytime now to take us to where you are to be trained.'**  said Kurama.

Sure enough as he said it there was a knock on the door. Naruto rolled up the scroll and put it back into the container scroll. Hopefully he would have some time to practice the jutsu he read up on.

For now training as a Green Lantern came first.

Naruto opened the door and saw Hal there but he found he wasn't alone. Next to him was a young girl around his age. She had light skin that appeared almost gold and yellow eyes. Her uniform consisted of a white tube top with a green collar, a skirt, and finishing with green gloves and boots. Besides her curves, Naruto also noticed that she had pointed almost elf-like ears.

For a moment Naruto couldn't help but stare at her before collecting himself.

"Naruto this is Arisia Ban. She'll be joining you and two others for you day of training today." said Hal introducing the newcomer. Shaking his head Naruto looked her in the eye.

"Hello Arisia. Nice to meet you." said Naruto holding out his hand which Arisia accepted.

"Thanks you too." she responded. Even thought they just met Naruto could tell she was being apprehensive.

"Nervous?" he asked.

Arisia nodded her head. "Yeah...it has nothing to do with you though… It's actually nice meeting a recruit close to my age. It's just, well..." she started rubbing her arm.

"She's a little intimidated from the horror stories of your drill instructor." said Hal. Naruto nodded though unsure what she was scared of.

"C'mon we gotta get going, otherwise Kilowog will get grumpy." he said walking ahead as the two of them rushed to catch up.

"I'm guessing this Kilowog is going to be training us?" asked Naruto. Arisia nodded while still rubbing her arms trying to calm down. Naruto suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

**(Hazard Simulation Facility)**

Soon they arrived at a large building which Hal quickly rushed into followed closely by Naruto and Arisia. As they were flying, Naruto couldn't help but notice how many races there were on this planet, not to mention how many different species there were. He saw people who looked humanoid like Arisia but a lot of them seemed to have different colors. Others looked like animals and some...he didn't even know what to describe.

Arisia couldn't help but notice his wide-eyed confusion.

"Are you alright?" she said as they walked the halls.

"Huh? Oh yeah." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish fashion. "I guess I'm still trying to get used to all this."

"I know what you mean kid. First time I set foot on Oa I was exactly the same." said Hal. It was then Arisia realized at least in part what that meant.

"So you're another recruit from Earth then." she assumed.

"No I'm from the planet of Ajnin." he answered.

Arisia was confused then. She never heard of the world before.

"Long story. Next time you recharge at the main battery you'll get all the info you need." said Hal as they stopped in front of a door with the lantern symbol. Opening it they enter a large room with green lights all around it. Standing in front of the large Green Lantern Naruto could see the two other recruits.

The first looked to be a squirrel in an outfit that looked exactly like his. The second that stood next to him was another odd shaped alien who it looked like his whole head was his body with arms and legs sticking out. His uniform was the same colors as his but conformed to his body.

Right now the only thing they had in common was they were all recruits. Which was a given since Arisia didn't have a lantern symbol on where the center of her collar. Nor the big head on his forehead or he and the squirrel on their chests.

"I'll leave you all now so you can get better acquainted before Kilowog arrives. Good luck." said Hal as he left the room. With the door closed he sighed to himself.

'They're gonna need it.'

After leaving the room with them alone Naruto still couldn't help stare at these three. Yes he knew about them from the database in his ring but to actually see aliens...that was something else.

"What are you staring at?" questioned the big headed one. Naruto immediately stopped gawking and rubbed the back of his head again.

"Sorry. He's kinda new to the universe at large." said Arisia seeing Naruto being a little awkward with being new. "I'm Arisia and this is Naruto." she introduced.

Both the big head and the squirrel turned and looked at each other and shrugged. "I'm Galius Zed." the big head spoke first.

"My name is B'dg." said B'dg in the usual squeaking voice that Naruto expected. Suddenly B'dg flew into his face.

"Before you say it I happen to be-"

"A H'venite yes I know." said Naruto interrupting what appeared to be a rant coming. "Just as he's," pointing to Galius. "A Noc'sagian."

"Finally! A human who actually read the database." said Galius.

"Actually I'm not human. I'm Ajnian." said Naruto.

That threw them all for a loop. They each mentally checked their ring's database and found nothing on this species.

"If what you say is true how come we don't see your race on the database." asked Arisia.

"Cause you poozers haven't recharged at the main battery yet." said a booming voice from behind them.

They all turned to see a Green Lantern who, judging from Arisia's expression of fear, they all pretty much assumed was Kilowog. The guy had to be at least eight feet tall who looked like a mix of a walrus and a hippo. Clad in a battle armor style uniform he was an imposing sight to be seen.

"Attention poozers! Fall in line!" he bellowed. Immediately they did so.

"And for the record: it's Sergeant Kilowog to you poozers." said Kilowog. "Do any of you know what a poozer is, poozers?"

"No sir." said Naruto already not liking this situation.

"I can't hear you!" he yelled looking down directly at Naruto.

Keeping back a growl he simply yelled back. "No sir!."

Afterwards he started pacing back and forth in front of them. "Poozers is what I like to call stupid, useless, white circled rookies. Like Narutoad over here." he said.

"Naruto sir." said Naruto growling not liking his namesake being made fun of.

"Did you say something Narubut?" questioned Kilowog.

Deciding to take a stand Naruto stepped up to look at him in the eyes. "My name is Naruto sir!" he exclaimed in anger.

The other recruits stood there in shock that Naruto had just stood up to him. Kilowog himself was blinking in surprise before he recomposed himself.

"You're whoever I say you are, poozer." said Kilowog. He and Naruto stared at each other for a moment before Naruto fell back in line.

"Now you rookies better not be thinking of crying home to mommy and daddy while in training. You all have one family right now and they're all wearing green rings." said Kilowog.

"Whose power poozers?" he bellowed.

"Our power Sergeant Kilowog!" they all answered.

"Whose light poozers?" Kilowog bellowed again.

"Our light Sergeant Kilowog!" they answered again.

"Your damn right!" said Kilowog. "Now I hope you rookies haven't gotten too comfortable cause we ain't staying on Oa." he then motioned them to follow him. They did so albeit with Naruto in the rear.

They followed him until they were outside the facility. From there Kilowog glowed and flew up into the sky. Kilowog turned to them.

"C'mon poozers I don't have all day!" he ordered. Immediately after he said that the other did as he said that they followed up to him.

Arisia flew up ahead next to Kilowog. "Where are we going sir?" she asked. Kilowog then had a smirk on his face.

"To hell." he said casually.

**(Two hours later)**

To say that Naruto found his first experience flying through space was disorienting to say the least. Having to fly through what you used to see up on the sky was very surreal.

Luckily he had his fellow recruits to follow...and their drill sergeant who Naruto initially didn't like all that much. But then who does like the person training them.

They had just landed on a cliff above an active volcano with Kilowog in front of them once again.

"Welcome to Hell boys and girls. This is where I weed out who belongs in my Corp and those who don't." said Kilowog

"First things first," he then created a small lockbox construct and opened it. "I'll be taking your rings."

Even though he didn't like where this was going Naruto kinda figured what was going on as he, Arisia, and Galius took off their rings and put them into the lockbox.

"Uh sir this volcano is active and if I'm right it's going blow soon." said B'dg fingering his ring when his turn came up. The lockbox then turned into pliers and extracted the ring from his finger.

"That's why we're here furball." said Kilowog as his construct turned into a bubble and gave him the rings into his open hand. "I want to see what you can do without the hunk of shiny ring helpin yah."

Then just like that he created a brick construct and destroyed the cliff they were on. They all watched as Kilowog floated away as they dropped.

 _'Shit! I hate when I'm right!'_ Naruto yelled as he and his fellow recruits started sliding from the destroyed cliff into the molten lava below. As they slid off a ramp though Naruto flipped up from his sliding and ran in front of them.

'What the hell is that kid doing?' Kilowog thought to himself as he saw Naruto was the first to fall off the ramp headed into the molten lava.

That is until he saw Naruto literally attach himself to the wall with his feet. From there he managed to catch Arisia.

"You catch B'dg. I got Galius." said Naruto before Arisia could even say thank you. As they saw them fall Naruto kept left hand around Arisia's waste while using his right to catch Galius. Arisia in turn caught little B'dg in her left hand.

"Great! Now what?" exclaimed C'hp.

"Everyone start climbing up to the top." said Naruto. Galius grabbed hold of the wall and started with B'dg jumping off Arisia's hand and did the same. Naruto then gently managed to get Arisia onto the wall. "I'll form the base and catch anyone who falls."

"Think so poozer?" questioned Kilowog hiding his astonishment at seeing someone able to cling to the wall of the volcano.

 _"Temperature reaching critcal levels. Eruption imminent."_ said the computer voice of Kilowogs ring which Naruto guessed Kilowog wanted everyone to hear.

 **'We gotta move Kid!'** said Kurama.

"B'dg you're the fastest climber. When you get to the top help anyone else that's close to you." he ordered. B'dg nodded and started leaping from one piece of the wall to the other as fast as he could. Arisia was able climb past Galius. Galius himself was having trouble given with his third leg behind him he was out of balance somewhat.

Naruto himself was walking up behind them as the volcano shook around them. The plates began to shift just as B'dg was helping Arisia up the cliff. The sudden shook up made Galius fall but Naruto managed to jump ahead as the lava was now catching up to his position and grab Galius. Before anything else could be done another quake shook and Naruto saw the lava getting more and more volatile. His eyes widened in terror at what he saw.

The volcano had begun to erupt with them inside it.

Naruto, with all his strength, threw Galius as hard as he could to the top of the cliff as the lava was just coming up to them. The volcano exploded as Naruto jumped to meet them. Just as he landed a massive wave of lava fell upon them.

At the same time Kilowog sent a beam to them.

Next thing they know the volcano has erupted and they are safe inside a cube-like construct with Kilowog above them inside flying away from the erupting volcano.

Arisia, Galius and B'dg were laid out breathing out sighs of relief. Naruto on the other hand was still standing looking at their supposed savior.

"Maybe you poozers would like some place cooler. A place with a bit of breeze."

 **'Oh that is funny. Not.'**  said Kurama. Naruto didn't say anything but judging from his stare Kurama knew he agreed.

**(One hour later)**

The next planet that Kilowog landed them in did indeed have a breeze. Hurricane level breeze that is. Not only was the whole planet basically in a constant storm there was also the sand to think about. Once again Kilowog as above observing the situation as Naruto, Arisia, Galius, and B'dg were holding on to each other single file as they tried to move throughout the sand. Naruto, thanks once again to his chakra based ability of walking on walls or water, managed to handle the shifting sand easily until he found a firm rock base large enough for them all.

He had managed to get Arisian but he saw that B'dg was struggling.

"Can't...hold on." he said as the poor little guys felt his grip on Galius's hand slipping.

"We won't let you go B'dg." said Naruto, Arisia looking on in fear.

Just as they managed to get Galius on the rock plateau, Chip had slipped out of his grasp. Galius tried to catch him again but it was too late.

"B'dg!" Naruto yelled as he saw the H'venite get swept up in the ocean of sand before getting swirled up into a whirlpool screaming in terror.

"Shouldn't make promise's you can't keep poozer." said Kilowog though already getting ready to get B'dg out of the whirlpool.

 _'Hope the little guy's okay.'_  Kilowog thought to himself with the first look of concern all day. Before he could however, Naruto was already on the move after helping Galius settle on the plateau.

Naruto jumped into the sea of sand himself and let himself be taken in.  
 **  
** **'Kid I hope you've got some sort of a plan cause I don't feel like suffocating in sand.'** said Kurama as Naruto approached the whirlpool.

 _'Actually I do. I'm gonna use one of the jutsu I saw in the scroll.'_ Naruto responded. Kurama looked at him in his mind with wide eyes.

 **'Are you insane!? You haven't even trained in any of those jutsu yet!'** he said.

 _'Early test run then.'_ Naruto responded as he felt himself sink into the whirlpool.

Arisia gasped as she and Galius looked on in shock of what Naruto just did.

Shaking his head Kilowog spoke up. "Congratulations rookies. Now you got two dead poozers eating sand and-what?" he questioned looking at the whirlpool.

Only now the whirlpool had sudden expanded to three times its size and out of sprang a large tornado. The force of the wind force Galius and Arisia to hold on and even forcing Kilowog to put up a barrier. From there they saw Naruto jump out it and back onto the sand.

Immediately following that the tornado disappeared as soon as it showed with Naruto walking back carrying a coughing but okay B'dg in his arms.

As he got onto the plateau Naruto gently put B'dg down on it.

"You okay little guy?" he asked.

B'dg coughed a few more balls of sand before answering. "Yeah. Thank you." he said trying to get his breath back.

"You'll be okay B'dg." said Arisia rubbing his little back. Galius looked at Naruto in amazement.

"How did you do that?" said Galius referring to the tornado that sprang from the whirlpool already figuring out it was Naruto who did that.

"Sorry. Magician doesn't reveal his tricks." Naruto said jokingly.

"Well whatever you did nice work." said Galius.

Looking between the whirlpool and the plateau, Kilowog had the same look of astonishment on his face as the recruits did.

**(Evening time)**

Thankfully leaving the sand world, Naruto and the rest landed on another uninhabited world or at least in the area they were in. Without their rings there was no way to know for certain. Fortunately, it was night time so Kilowog decided to set up camp in a valley near a forest before their next challenge.

Camp meant they were to sleep on the floor pretty much with only a camp fire to burn. As Naruto tended the camp fire that Kilowog had made after Naruto brought the wood. As he tended the fire he looked back to his sleeping compatriots.

Arisia had allowed B'dg to cuddle with her to help him stay warm. The way it looked it seemed he had become her little teddy bear. Galius slept sitting as if to keep watch on them, which wasn't a surprise given everything they had been through he knew they would form some common bond even though they had yet to get to know each other all that well yet.

Naruto also saw their uniforms had scratches and they all had small bruises and such. Not surprising with what they went through given all they had been through. Naruto was the only one of them that didn't seem to have a scratch on him.

A fact not lost on their drill Sergeant.

 **'That was a risky move using that jutsu.'** said Kurama.

The jutsu he referred to was one Naruto learned from the scroll. It was the Wind Style: Tornado Shield Jutsu. Or rather it's more unstable state. It was supposed to create a tornado that surrounded the user by channel wind chakra around him, essentially making the user a living tornado that could be used for defense and offense. There was of course another version of it that allowed it to slice anything that headed towards the user into pieces.

In short a shield for offence and defense.

Difference was Naruto made one far too large as evidence by his display in the sand.

_'What else was I suppose to do? Let Kilowog save him? He took too long as it was when he lectured me!'_

**'I'm not saying what you did was wrong. It just that what if you sliced yourself to pieces using it?'**  Kurama questioned.

 _'I had to take the chance.'_ said Naruto

 **'Well it doesn't matter. At any rate it worked although I think you overdid it a bit making the tornado as big as it was**.' said Kurama.

 _'Yeah gotta watch that next time.'_ Naruto agreed. From then he looked at the fire and poking it to make sure it stayed lit.

Looking at though brought him back to certain memories again.

**(Flashback)**

Naruto managed to get himself some distance and managed to climb up on Hashirama's statue. From there Sasuke made handsigns that he was all too familiar with.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" said Sasuke. Sure enough several fire balls starting shooting him. Dodging the initial attacks by running up the statue Naruto suddenly felt he had enough and reverse flipped on it. The momentum being enough to get behind Sasuke. From there Naruto rushed at him at top speed kunai in hand but Sasuke was ready. He fired another fire ball straight at him.

Naruto just kept running at it.

**(End Flashback)**

"Hey kid!" Kilowog suddenly bellowed as he put out the fire by wiping some dirt on the fire. It immediately snapped Naruto out of his stupor and look up at Kilowog.

"What? What is it?" said Naruto blinking.

"You were just staring at the fire like you were somewhere else." said Kilowog. "Care to share what you were thinking about?"

"Not really." grumbled Naruto. Kilowog and Naruto glared at each other for a moment.

"Get some rest." said Kilowog. Naruto didn't budge. "Trust me you going to need it when we hit the ice canyons tomorrow." Kilowog continued turning and walking away.

"I'm not tired yet." said Naruto. That made Kilowog stop and turn around.

"I don't care. Get some sleep." ordered Kilowog.

"Too bad sir. I'm not tired." Naruto responded getting off the rock he was sitting on and once again getting into Kilowog's face. The commotion got the others to wake up to see what was going on.

"If you got something to say to me poozer then say it." said Kilowog glaring down at this punk.

 _'Any objections?'_ questioned Naruto to Kurama about what they both knew was going to happen.

 **'Nope.** ' Kurama said. From his tone Naruto could tell he was getting excited at having a front row seat to the brawl that was coming.

"I'm just trying to figure out what you're playing at sir. I mean why are you doing this? You get some twisted pleasure from seeing us in pain? Doubting ourselves? It's like you want us to quit sir!" Naruto explained.

"I got nothing to explain to you!" said Kilowog. That of course did not satisfy Naruto so he kept pushing.

"We're here because we want to serve. If one of us gets killed then you're just a murderer...sir." said Naruto.

Then he wasn't sure if he didn't see a hint of a smile on Kilowogs face before he took of his ring and placed with Naruto's and the others on the rock next to them.

"Oh no." muttered Arisia seeing how this was gonna unfold.

"Say that again?" said Kilowog although the tone was that of a warning; A last chance to back off.

Naruto didn't back down.

"You are mean, sadistic, son of a bitch." said Naruto. Next thing he knew Kilowog had hit him with a back hand that sent him flying.

Now Kilowog was pretty confident in his physical strength even without his ring. He expected to have Naruto being sent at least twenty feet away and on the floor first eating dirt.

He only had the first part right as Naruto managed to land on his feet and charged right at him. Kilowogs eye widened with how fast the boy was that he barely had time to raise left arm to block a right cross. The force of it surprised him as clinched in pain from the blow. Kilowog shot back with a right forearm aimed at Naruto's face but Naruto ducked under it, twisted around and landed his left punch into Kilowog's solar plexus.

The blow hit so hard that he had to hold his stomach, Which left him open for a flip kick. This time it was Kilowog sent flying at least thirty feet before landing back first on a tree and sliding down and landing on his butt. Shaking it off Kilowog stared at his opponent. Naruto had a small cut on his lip but he hadn't even wiped it off.

"Had enough sir?" question Naruto in a mocking tone.

Kilowog said nothing but wiped the blood off his mouth and stood up. From there the two charged at each other. Naruto noted that Kilowog was faster than he looked as he moved with another left hook. Kilowog blocked it and tried for a bear hug but Naruto slipped out of it by head butting him. Kilowog shook off the impact and dodged and high kick from Naruto. From there it became and stand off from Kilowog throwing jabs and crosses with Naruto able to block and dodge. He fired back with another to Kilowog's jaw but he couldn't sweep his legs from under him.

As they watched the fight Arisia couldn't believe her eyes.

'Kilowog is one of the toughest members of the Corps. And Naruto is not only holding his own in hand to hand with him but he's winning.' she thought to herself in astonishment.

"Kick his ass Naruto!" yelled Galius as Naruto fired another roundhouse kick which sent Kilowog spinning. Unfortunately, Kilowog spun and sent Naruto a right uppercut which Naruto recovered with a handspring as Kilowog tried to charge him again.

"Watch his left!" said C'hp as Naruto, still in handspring, used his hands to hit his chest with a dropkick in the chest to avoid said left hand. Forcing Kilowog on his back he then jumped off him and came down to punch him from above. Seeing this Kilowog rolled out of the way. He was lucky as he saw Naruto take his fist out the small hole he put into the ground.

The fight continued for some time as the two stared at each other and gauging their next move.  
 _  
_ _'This isn't good.'_  thought Kilowog to himself having some trouble breathing. 'I knew the kid was good but this is something else. I gotta have at least two maybe three cracked ribs one of them broken I'm sure. And he's not even breathing heavy.'

 _'Guess Kilowog can walk the walk after all.'_ though Naruto to himself impressed with the old drill sergeant. He may be as fast as he is but he was strong and big. More importantly, he knew how to use those attributes unlike other low level ninja back on his homeworld.

 **'Still doesn't mean he has a chance. Kick his ass Kid.'** encouraged Kurama. Naruto smiled at his partner's words.

Naruto the charged at Kilowog again. Kilowog didn't back down however he did notice that Naruto was moving slower. Perhaps he damaged him more then he thought. Kilowog pulled back his right hand threw a powerful straight left at Naruto landing solidly on his face. However, as soon as he hit him he then puffed out like smoke.

"What the hell!?" said Kilowog. Whatever it was he knew that was not Naruto and immediately looked for him. It took him a full five minutes before realizing to look where most enemies would hit from.

Behind.

Naruto stood there with a smile on his face.

"Took you long enough." he said.

Kilowog immediately sent a right back fist to him which Naruto easily caught with his left hand. Kilowog then sent a rare left kick which unfortunately sent him spinning with Naruto still holding onto his arm. As he dropped down Naruto managed to nag the other arm. From there he used his chakra and funneled them into his hands and put pressure on Kilowogs arms. Naruto just hung there slowly bringing his weight and pressure down making Kilowog scream in pain. It got even worse with Naruto standing on the ground again. Only now he was pulling on Kilowogs arms.

For Kilowog it felt like his arms were getting pulled off.

"Had enough sir?!" Naruto called out once again.

"AHHHHHHH!" he screamed.

The others watched in horror as Naruto seemed to make himself a living torture rack for Kilowog. Even as they saw Kilowog grit his teeth and start to budge his way off it seemed Naruto always had more strength to pull his arms back and even further making him scream again.

"Shouldn't we try and stop this?!" said Arisia.

"C'mon Arisia after everything Kilowog put us through its nice to see him get a taste of his own medicine." said Galius. B'dg was on the fence about it though.

"Maybe. But maybe we're just seeing the shoe on the other foot." said Arisia.

While they argued Kilowog was still gritting his teeth trying to get out of this hold that Naruto put him in.

"Not so much fun when you're on the other end of the stick is it!?" said Naruto.

Through the pain Kilowog started getting angry when he heard that comment. He turned to glare and saw what was behind Naruto was the forest. From there Kilowog had a way out. He used whatever strength he had left and pushed himself and Naruto backwards right into the tree. Hearing Naruto grunt in pain he loosened his grip on Kilowog's arms for him to finally get himself free. From there Kilowog turned around, grabbed Naruto by the front of his uniform and threw him across the field. Kilowog then knelled down and hoped that would be enough to get Naruto to slow down long enough to cool down.

Unfortunately, while Naruto landed on the ground with a hard thud he quickly recovered and from there launched himself at Kilowog. Naruto in his anger instinctively created a Rasengan in his hand and sent it right into Kilowog's gut. The force of the technique pushed Kilowog through the tree and into the forest through three others before he landed on his back in a heap.

The anger waning Naruto saw the destruction he left and suddenly hoped that the Rasengan was low powered.

The others saw the devastation he left in Kilowog.

 _'Oh Kami I think I killed him.'_ thought Naruto as he rushed to the still not moving body of Kilowog.

' **What the hell were you thinking!? You know how devastating that jutsu is even in its base form!'**  Kurama admonished as Naruto came upon Kilowog with the others following close behind.

_'I wasn't thinking! I just reacted I didn't mean to-'_

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when he saw Kilowog begin to move.

"Kilowog are you alright?" asked Naruto relieved to see him alive and moving.

"Ugh. Yeah just give a minute." said Kilowog now sitting up and clutching his stomach. "What the yoist did you hit me with kid?"

"A technique on my planet." said Naruto not wanting to reveal too much.

"One of them jutsu's your people use right?" asked Kilowog. Naruto nodded. "Well crap it hurts." said Kilowog.

Soon the rest of the group arrived. "Kilowog sir are you alright?" question Arisia.

"Yeah. Kid here really wanted to kick my ass and he did." said Kilowog putting a thumb in Naruto's direction chuckling to himself. "Seriously kid where did you learn to fight? I haven't been knocked around like that in years!"

"I had some good teachers." said Naruto again being evasive.

"Care to elaborate, cause from what I saw your people must have been born to fight." said Galius.

"Sorry rookie you're just going to have to learn from main battery. Naruto here is being tight lipped." said Kilowog. He then looked at them all seriously.

"Usually I'm standing when I say this but given that my arms are still numb and my gut is hurting I'm just gonna say it now." everyone turned to him Naruto with his arms crossed. "This is what my drill sergeant told me when I was in your position. You all don't like how I do things fine. I don't care. If you're all still alive and ring-slinging down the road and lucky enough to watch your family grow as you honor your oath then you'll understand." he then managed to barely stand up as the words seemed to give him some strength back though he still held his midsection.

"But getting old in my Corps is a privilege. We die so innocents don't. It just that simple. Once you put on the ring and wear these uniforms the life you lead-"

"Stops being our own." Naruto finished. Kilowog glanced his way and for once could see what John Stewart was talking about. And given that he had seen war himself at such a young age.

"So endeth the lesson. Get your rings. We're going back to Oa." said Kilowog.

"Wait what!? What about the ice canyons?" questioned B'dg.

"That won't be necessary. Truth is this was to make sure you poozers were ready for this job. You've passed. Now get a move on we move in five-" Kilowog groaned. "Make that ten minutes."

Arisia, B'dg, and Galius immediately left the forest to grab their rings from the rock that Kilowog had placed them. Naruto stayed behind and watched them.

"Naruto would you not challenge me on this?" said Kilowog.

"That's the second time you got my name right." said Naruto turning to face him.

"Yeah I did." said Kilowog with a smile on his face. Naruto knew he didn't need to say it to know that he had earned his respect. Which lead to another realization.

"You never intended for us to go those ice canyons did you?" asked Naruto.

"No I didn't." said Kilowog. He then looked down. "You should know that I never would have let any of you get killed on those planets. You gotta know that."

"I know sir." said Naruto.

"Yeah." said Kilowog walking over to him. "It just...this job tends to push your limits and force you to go beyond them. Not many can. Some even quit and more then you might think."

"So this was just to prove that we could handle the hazards of being a Green Lantern then." said Naruto.

"For the others yeah. You on the other hand were breezing past those situations. I had to give you something that would give you some kind of challenge." Kilowog explained.

"Like yourself?" said Naruto with an eyebrow raised. Kilowog suddenly felt really stupid along with being in pain.

"Yeah not so smart now. Course if I had known you fought like that I wouldn't have done it." said Kilowog. Naruto then looked down at his feet. He saw that they were shaking barely able to hold him up.

Naruto put Kilowog's arm around his shoulders and proceeded to help him leave the forest.

"What are you doing?" asked Kilowog.

"Giving you a hand back to camp." said Naruto as they walked.

"Don't think this is gonna make me go easy on you. The real training is about to begin Naruto." said Kilowog.

"Wouldn't want you to and I don't need you to." said Naruto.

Kilowog just grumbled about stubborn fools while Naruto just helped him out the forest with a small smile on his face.

**(Ajnin)**

It had been a few days since Orochimaru saw the three green lights that flew from Konoha. The former Sannin sat in the forest of death trying to piece together what had happened since the war's end.

After Naruto had played his monumental role in defeating Madara and Obito, Orochimaru immediately went underground. However, he kept his ear to the ground concerning his former pupil Sasuke and his death at the hands of Naruto Uzumaki.

'Good riddance I say.' thought Orochimaru to himself. While it was true that Sasuke was at least equal to or superior to Itachi in terms of power Sasuke was inferior when it came to maturity.

Orochimaru acknowledged this when he was training Sasuke. His thoughts then turned the one responsible.

'Naruto how we all underestimated you.' he thought to himself. As he looked back on the days where he first met them Orochimaru had become one of the many that did not see Naruto for what he would become. Even after seeing him master the Rasengan and using it on Kabuto he still admonished him although granted to a lesser degree. Seeing him now as he fought in the war Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder why he thought the Uchiha bloodline was the path to power. When even the mightiest of their clan wanted to be what Naruto was.

A Jinchurriki. That was one path to power.

Which lead to Orochimaru's current issue. He had meant it when he said he had no interest in destroying Konoha anymore. But now with Kaguya was sealed once again. The Tailed Beast's were free to roam save for two that had chosen to stay within their hosts. And neither facing Killer Bee or Naruto or facing any of the Tailed Beasts were a good idea currently.

'Which leaves me with my original goal: To find and create new jutsu.' he thought to himself with a sigh. 'Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have the same appeal to me as it did before. And what's the point of having Jutsu when one of the paths to power is forever shut out?' he continued.

But there was nothing else to do was there?

True enough it seemed that with the war's end peace would be sure to follow. Orochimaru rested his face on his palm and just stared at the fire. It would become so boring now. He supposed he could rebuild the Sound village again but what would be the point? Besides it would be too obvious now!

One thing was clear: as long as he had lived and would continue to live Orochimaru still had an eye for more power.

As he got lost in his own thoughts a sudden bright yellow light appeared in the sky above. Orochimaru looked up but the light was so bright he had to shield his eyes from it. The light eventually dimmed down and Orochimaru could see something come down to him.

As it dimmed further Orochimaru could see that the object coming to him was a ring. When it was floating right in front of him he could make out a strange symbol on it. And then it spoke in an automatic and computer like voice.

"Orochimaru of Ajnin you have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps." it said. Then it slid straight onto Orochimaru's right middle finger. Then the energy of the ring flowed through him and he felt the power of it.

Soon he stood with his clothes changed into a skin tight yellow uniform with the same symbol that was on the ring in a black circle on his chest.

Orochimaru opened his eyes and they glowed yellow. Feeling what he had just become he could only laugh.

In joy.

**End Chapter**

_A couple months ago a coworker and friend of mine past away. I have been dealing with that while dealing with work. That said I hope to get my update speed faster for your guys._

_Things are finally moving ahead. Next chapter I hope, really hope, to start and finish Naruto with his training and get his first mission before I do the time skip. Be prepared though cause I am trying my absolute best to make the chapters not too long._

_Finally, credit for any corrections in grammar or any added bits go to my beta austinjak0._

_Thank you all for your continued support._


	7. Actually Does Socialize

"Hold still Kilowog! I haven't finished examining you yet!" ordered Soranik Natu using a construct of what appeared to be a micro x-ray device to scan Kilowog's mid section.

Kilowog just grumbled and glared with his deep red eyes in annoyance but did as she said.

Soranik Natu was a veteran Green Lantern from the same homeworld as former Green Lantern now turned enemy Sinestro. At first she saw the ring as a curse just as the rest of her people do. After all Sinestro had used his power to make himself a dictator and practically enslave Korugar to his perverse version of order.

But in truth it was only the icing on the cake. She was already receiving hateful stares for being his daughter, although her mother was remained still a mystery. However, as she began her training and learning about the Corps she realized what a gift it was to be chosen. With it she could help even more people. The ring had allowed her to cure illness and disease that would have been otherwise impossible for the standard medical equipment on Korugar.

Unfortunately, her people didn't see it that way. Soon after she returned to her homeworld after she became a fully fledged lantern she was faced with ridicule and fear. It came to a boiling point for her when she used a ring to do an operation on a patient on her own without any help. If she hadn't used it the patient would have died.

Which lead her to being disbarred from practicing medicine on Korugar, which she had decided to quit in the first place. Combine that with the fact that they had forced her out of her apartment and Natu had had enough and left Korugar. She still returned there every once and a while to help as per her duty to her sector but has not set foot on it since.

When she wasn't on patrol she was in charge of all things medical on Oa, mostly alone since there were rarely anyone inducted with her level of expertise on medicine. If there was something large scale then she would have assistants with any kind of medical knowledge help her, but for the most part she handled it alone.

"Are you finished yet?" asked Kilowog getting impatient.

"Nope." said Natu making her construct disappear and replacing it with another device. "Honestly I'm surprised that whatever that rookie hit you with didn't kill you."

"Why do you say that?" said Kilowog annoyed that she seemed to think him weak or something. He then winced at the device she used emitted an energy beam that passed through him. He could feel it start to mend the damage in his midsection.

"Whatever he hit you with didn't stop at the surface. The attack he used seemed to grind all the way through, attacking the organs." she said. "So yes you are lucky that you are so tough Kilowog."

"And he was holding back." said Kilowog wincing from the repair's Natu's construct was doing.

"You seem certain about that." she said albeit a tad surprised at his statement.

"You weren't there Natu. I hit the kid with everything I had and he still came back for more. Hell my punches, the ones I managed to land, didn't seem to really take effect. On top of that he fought like a demon. I've never seen anyone close to his level of martial art skill save for Laira. If he wanted me dead you would be examining a corpse right now." said Kilowog.

From the tone in his voice Natu knew he was being serious about that statement. Still she couldn't believe that a rookie managed to beat up Kilowog as badly as this Naruto Uzumaki had managed to do. Aside from the major wound to the abdomen, Kilowog has at least two broken ribs and third one that was cracked, both of his arms' rotator cuffs were nearly popped from when he nearly torn Kilowog's arms off. All of these however were superficial and she managed to heal them easily enough. It was the injury to his abdomen that was taking the longest.

"If that's true then maybe you shouldn't make him mad again." said Natu with a small smile on her face. Kilowog just grumbled under his breath. Finally, the energy beam from the construct dissipated as Natu disengaged it.

"There. I've managed to repair any damage to your internal organs that you suffered. I am, however, requesting that you take some medical leave. You still can train recruits but that's as far as it goes." The doctor ordered.

"How long?" grumbled Kilowog not liking that news.

"Just for a week. It would have been longer if Naruto had been less merciful." Natu responded with a smirk.

Kilowog glared at the medic but said nothing as he stepped off the table. He still felt sore but better than he was when he came in.

"I have to say though, from what the database has shown about these Ajnians I may request to visit their world." said Natu.

"Why?" said Kilowog.

"Well from what I have seen so far not only do they have interesting fighting abilities but from what I understand they have advances in medicine and treatment that are fascinating." said Natu with giddiness in her voice.

Kilowog rolled his eyes and decided since she was done he would make his exit. "Well if that's all I'm headed out." he said walking out the door.

"Remember what I said. No sparring or fighting until I say you're fully recovered!" She called out as he left her room.

Kilowog breathed a sigh of relief at finally getting out of there. He held his stomach and still felt a little sore, which made Kilowog start thinking about his current situation. He knew he could train the other three easily enough but Naruto it seemed needed some specialized training. Sure he could give him the basics but if his spar with the cadet showed him anything, it was that Naruto already had a more than decent grasp on them.

After all the report was that Naruto already had a handle on the ring given he used a bubble to force himself out of John's construct and knew enough to create a weapon construct.

No. Kilowog knew that Naruto needed someone who could give him some one-on-one training, something he couldn't do. Suddenly, he found himself smiling, raised his ring hand, and made a call.

**(Dining Hall)** ****  
  
Naruto had just sat down in a table with his fellow recruits looking down at his tray of food with one thought in his mind.

_'Still should have insisted on trying to get ramen.'_ he grumbled internally looking down at his tray.

**'Would you shut up about the damn ramen! Look at this plate here and tell me that steak doesn't look appetizing.** ' Kurama responded which Naruto could hear him drooling over it. Naruto looked again at his food and had to admit that it did look and smell delicious.

Greet, the cook in charge, figured out that Ajnian and Human digestive systems were the same so he was a little grumpy when it came to Naruto. After all he still had trouble with human food for some reason. So he gave to Naruto the same as he would Hal, John, and one other who he didn't name but kept saying how he kept complaining about Greet's ineffective cooking ability. Naruto wisely kept his mouth shut as his tray was filled with prime rib steak, corn, and roasted potatoes. The concept of Silverware was a bit different from what he was used to though, as it included a fork, spoon, and cutting knife of which Naruto, thankfully had rudimentary knowledge from the Earth database.

Deciding to just shrug it off he took the fork and knife, practically stabbed the steak with the fork and cut a slice before putting it in his mouth. Naruto immediately liked what he was chewing as he tasted the flavors of the meat.

**'See not so bad after all. Keeping your mom's promise isn't as hard as you though it was going to be.'**  said Kurama. Rather than give him the satisfaction of being right Naruto just went on enjoying his meal.

As he did so he looked around to his fellow recruits. Looking around he saw that Arisia was the only who ate anything that looked like human food with some kind of curry.

It wasn't the only thing that he noticed. He saw the veteran Lanterns that entered the Hall looking at their table. More specifically looking at him directly.

"News of you kicking Kilowog's ass must have spread like wildfire." said Galius as he looked at the faces that glanced or stared his way.

"Well us helping him to the infirmary definitely got their attention." said Arisia remembering that it was her and Galius that had to carry him to the infirmary because the pain in his torso was making it hard for Kilowog to concentrate.

"Yeah but how did they know which one of us did the deed?" asked Naruto as he chewed on another piece of steak.

They all looked to B'dg as he was chewing on what looked like a large nut. He stopped chewing when he saw them looking at him and gulped.

"Okay I admit I may have talked to a couple people who asked about what happened." he said sheepishly.

Looking at him with those big eyes it was hard to be mad at the little guy. So Naruto just shrugged his shoulders.

"It's okay B'dg. Something tells me it was going to happen sooner or later." he said.

"These things usually do I guess." said Arisia. B'dg just breathed a sigh of relief that his new friends weren't going to be mad at him.

They soon went back to eating their meals. Naruto had just about finished when he looked up to see that one of those veteran Lanterns started approaching their table. The same one he had a kunai to his throat when they first met.

The other recruits immediately started to rise from their seats but John used his hands to dismiss their movement.

"At ease." said said the veteran Lantern who then turned his attention to Naruto. "Naruto when you're finished I like to have a word with you. Alone if you please."

The others turned to Naruto as he was chewing up his corn having finished the steak. He swallowed then looked at him.

"Sure." he said simply. John nodded and returned to his table.

"What was that about?" question Arisia.

"I have a guess." said Naruto. He put his spoon down on his tray, grabbed it and then put it into a dispensing bin which vaporized the remaining food and sent it to be cleaned.

Naruto then walked out of the dining hall. John seeing this did the same as Naruto and then followed.

"You think Naruto is going two for two?" spoke Galius. The others glared at him. "What?" he questioned.

Outside the hall Naruto saw the sun on Oa beginning to set. Among the things he like since he started his brief stay on Oa was that pretty much everywhere you went could get a pretty much a good view on just about anything on the planet. It was like the planet itself wanted people to know it was a jewel in the universe.

Hearing the door close he turned around knowing who it was that came out.

"Something on your mind Stewart?" Naruto questioned.

"Look," said John rubbing the back of his neck. "You and I got off to a bad foot. I'll admit I was a presumptuous. But the way you punched that guy back on your home world I thought you used the ring."

"I didn't hit him that hard he's still alive. And that guy's name is Kakashi and he was my sensei for a long time." explained Naruto.

"If he was your teacher then why did you punch him?" asked John.

"It...was a personal dispute that you saw the end of." said Naruto immediately feeling the returning guilt he had felt after punching him.

They stood in silence for a moment with Naruto glancing down before John spoke up again.

"Look let's try this again." he then held his hand up. "My name is John Stewart. Green Lantern of Sector 2814."

Naruto looked at his hand for a moment before taking it and shaking it. "Naruto Uzumaki. Green Lantern recruit of Sector 2813."

"Not a recruit much longer from what I hear." said John with a smile on his face as they let their hands go.

Naruto just rolled his eyes. "I didn't think B'dg talking to a few people would garner that much attention." he said.

"Wasn't just his word. People noticed Arisia and Galius carrying him. Little guy only told them who did it." said John. He then turned serious and grim. " By the way Kilowog happens to be one of the toughest and most distinguished Lanterns we have. He's trained most of the Corps including me."

Instead of cowing to John's stare Naruto stood his ground although he had to admit that he went too far using the Rasengan on Kilowog, even though it was instinctual at the time.

"Look I'm sorry if I hurt him. But in hindsight-"

"He also," John interrupted. "Can be an asshole sometimes. He has been in need of a beat down for years." he finished with a smile on his face.

Naruto was surprised at that. He took John for one of those by the book types. Glad to know there was some humor in the man.

"In that case I am happy to be the one to administer it." said Naruto with a smile of his own. John then looked to the sky and saw that it was nearly night time.

"Well I won't keep you any longer. Get some sleep. That run in with Kilowog was just the beginning. Tomorrow is when you start to use this." he gestured turning his right hand, his ring hand, into a fist to show him.

Naruto nodded. John did the same, slapped him on the shoulder and flew off. The others caught up to him and flew back to their quarters together with them trying nonstop to get him to talk about his encounter with John Stewart.

**(Naruto's room, 2200 Oa Time)**

Naruto sat on his bed once again, this time staring at his right hand. He had transformed out of his uniform and was once again in his orange outfit. Either not able to sleep or worse trying not to.

**'Kid. This recent pattern of you not going to sleep until the wee hours of the night and close to morning is getting tiresome.'**  Naruto chose not to respond as Kurama noticed his attention was still on his hand. 'Would you at least tell me what is so fascinating about your hand, aside from the Green Lantern ring, so that you can go to sleep?'

_'Sorry. It just...I can't help but notice that I've been able to use a Rasengan without a clone._ ' thought Naruto as he looked at his hand. From the time with their fight with Obito, to his fight with Sasuke, and now Kilowog, Naruto had managed to use the Rasengan without needing a Shadow Clone to help him. What irked him was he just now noticed.

**'Well you probably didn't notice because you were in the middle of a fight at the time.'**  The fox explained. Naruto nodded in agreement. He concentrated his chakra as he usually did when readying the jutsu. And just like that, a Rasengan appeared in his hand.

_'But why now?'_  he thought to himself.

**'Answer's obvious boy. Your main issue up til now was chakra control. But thanks to my chakra and yours being fused that problem is now nonexistent.'** Kurama explained.  **'I know how unobservant you can be, but seriously, how could you not notice?'** ****  
 _  
_ _'Been a little preoccupied in case you haven't noticed.'_  Naruto responded after making the Rasengan in his hand recede and disappear.

**'Fair enough.'**  Kurama conceded. With everything that has happened with the war, Sakura and Sasuke's death, and being chosen by the ring it was no wonder that Naruto had not noticed.

This did however bring something else to mind.

_'I still need to train with my jutsu' he then reached for the wind scroll but-'_ Kurama stopped him.

**'A lot of those jutsu on wind require a lot of space. Unless you want people to know more about your abilities, Kami knows why you keep them hidden in the first place, then we need somewhere more secluded.'** Kurama explained.

Naruto rolled up the scroll in frustration. He knew Kurama was right. Problem was where on Oa that was secluded from the Guardians sight?

A planet this size and with so many Lanterns it only made sense that they would keep track of its members and who and what goes on at the home base.

**'Let's table this for now and try and get some sleep Naruto. Focus on training with the ring. The rest will follow.'**  said Kurama.

Naruto nodded and put himself into the covers of the bed.

_'Yeah. I wonder if this what that place on Earth is like.'_

**'What place?'**  asked Kurama.

_'College.'_  Naruto responded while slowly going to sleep.

**'Maybe.'** the fox replied.

And with that the young ninja fell to sleep.  
 **  
** **(Training Platform)**

Naruto and the rest of the recruits were waiting on the training platform. They had just finished breakfast when their rings had informed them to arrive at the training platform.

While waiting they noticed there were five practice dummies.

"Anyone want to venture a guess as to why we were summoned here?" asked B'dg.

Before anyone could answer Kilowog came flying down and landed with a boom. While Naruto could tell that he was in much better condition than the last time they saw him, he did notice that Kilowog was still favoring his stomach area.

"Alright you poozers. Today we start you ring slinging training." he bellowed. "Right, the first thing we're going to do is determine how strong your willpower is." He then moved in front of one of the dummies. He then pointed his ring hand at one of them and then a blast of green energy fired from his ring and utterly destroyed the dummy in a loud explosion.

Naruto and the rest stared with wide eyes.

"Cool." said Naruto which Arisia, Galius and B'dg all nodded in agreement.

"The ring blast you just saw is the most basic attack of a Green Lantern. It is your opener and your fall back if your constructs fail you." instructed Kilowog turning back to them. "But like everything else with your ring it is only as strong as your will." he continued. "Now it's your turn poozers. Let see what you got."

The group then each moved into position in front of their dummies; Arisia, Galius, B'dg, and Naruto in order from right to left.

"Remember. Concentrate on your willpower. That's what powers your ring." Kilowog instructed. The group nodded and the practice began.

Arisia went first. She aimed her ring hand and fired an energy blast from her ring. However, the blast was weak for she panicked and thus no damage to the dummy.

Kilowog was about to speak but Naruto beat him to it.

"Remember Arisia. Concentrate. Don't be nervous." he said.

Arisia nodded. She took a deep breath that calmed her nerves before aiming again, gritting her teeth as she concentrated. She fired and she could feel the blast was stronger than the last one. When she was done she felt her hand go limp and she was breathing hard. She looked and saw the dummy heavily damaged.

"Not bad. Could use some work though but we'll get you there." said Kilowog. Arisia nodded. It was then it was Galius' turn. He did much better and managed to destroy the head of his dummy.

"Work on your aim." said Kilowog. He then motioned to B'dg. The little guy had to fly up to get the proper aim on the dummy. It paid off as he managed to destroy the entire upper body of it. It tired B'dg out though and he flew back down on the ground and seemed like he was going to keel over.

"Pretty good. Though we're gonna have to work on your endurance. Don't worry though that's normal." said Kilowog which almost sounded encouraging.

Finally, it was Naruto's turn. As he stood in front of the dummy Kurama piped in.

**'Remember your own advice Kid. Concentrate on what you want to do and then will it.'**  he said. Naruto nodded his eyes focused on the dummy. He then aimed his ring hand. He thought was going to be nervous like Arisia was but his hand was steady. Then, as if it were natural, he fired his ring.

The blast that came from him was so strong that it encompassed the area around the dummy. When it was done and the smoke cleared the dummy was completely destroyed.

Along with a quarter of the forward area of the platform.

Naruto was in awe as he looked as his ring. The others looked between him and the area that was where the dummy was. Kilowog has his mouth on the floor in shock. He eventually shook it off and looked at the area.

"Someone here don't know his own strength." said Kilowog. He tried to make it sound like a criticism but it came out more like astonishment.

"How are you not tired from that Naruto?" asked B'dg. The question managed to shake the others out of their stupor as they noticed that Naruto was not even breathing heavy.

"I don't know." said Naruto.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." said Galius still looking at the area Naruto fired upon.

Kilowog coughed which got everyone's attention back on him.

"Right. Next up we're gonna do barrier testing. As you saw on the desert world when Naruto here made that tornado appear I contained myself inside an energy bubble." said Kilowog. He then demonstrated by using his ring to in case himself inside the same bubble.

"Now the same rules apply with energy blasts. The stronger your willpower and the better you concentrate it the more powerful the barrier becomes." he instructed. "This is the basic use of ring barriers and shields. You can also use constructs with the same effect. This type however is used when in emergencies." he continued. After disengaging his shield he turned to Naruto's direction.

"Since you did the most damage with your dummy Naruto you will go first." said Kilowog with a smirk on his face.

Naruto rolled his eyes and nodded as he moved in front of him once again. Naruto had a feeling that Kilowog might be looking for some good natured payback for his earlier defeat.

Naruto immediately raised an energy wall between himself and Kilowog. Kilowog in turn made a hammer construct and heft it over his shoulder.

"Uh you sure you're okay to do this sir?" asked Naruto genuinely concerned as he heard Kilowog huff a bit as he hefted his hammer into striking position.

"I'm fine. Let's get started." he said. Even though he could already hear Natu's lecture coming, there was no way he would deny himself at least some satisfaction.

With a loud roar Kilowog swung his hammer at Naruto's wall with all the strength he could muster. Even in his weakened state he knew many a recruit whose barriers cracked and fell within one or two strikes from him.

Naruto's body jerked from the impact of Kilowog's hammer but he held his ground. Kilowog and the others looked at Naruto's wall.

It didn't have a scratch.

Kilowog looked at it in shock but shook his head. 'Fluke' he thought to himself. He lifted the hammer again and slammed it even harder. Again Naruto held and the again did not even have a crack on it.

Again the others had their jaws on the floor. Even Naruto himself was surprised given he could feel how much impact Kilowog was sending to him.

Huffing in frustration Kilowog battered against the wall again and again. The impact of the blows could be felt throughout the platform. B'dg instinctively climbed on Arisia being the tallest of the three of them as they once again watched in shock.

After his sixth attempt to break it Kilowog put his hammer down and was gripping his stomach as the pain in his gut started up again.

"Uh Kilowog sir. I think maybe you should stop before you hurt yourself." said Naruto disengaging his wall to get a better look at him.

"Get your wall back up poozer! I haven't finished the test yet!" bellowed Naruto. Naruto immediately did as he asked while Kilowog pulled himself together.

_'Not again. Not twice in two days am I letting this rookie beat me.'_ Kilowog thought to himself. This had never happened to him before. Part of him was actually impressed to have a recruit with this much talent with the ring.

His pride on the other hand was more than a little wounded. However, as he lifted the hammer again to strike again, Kilowog suddenly found an energy tendril wrapped around his hammer. It was pulled from him and disintegrated.

"Kilowog. I believe that the good Doctor Natu said no undue stress while training the recruits." said a voice above them.

The all looked to see a young woman who appeared to be in her mid to late twenties touch down beside them. She was tall, about 5'8, purple skinned with fiery orange hair and elf-like ears. Her uniform consisted of what looked like a female version of samurai body armor. Black and green with leaf like shoulder pads. Its sleeves stopping short of her forearms with black gloves on. The lower half of her uniform had skin tight shorts which showed off her legs which stopped with knee high combat boots with three spikes on each side of them. Completing it was the traditional Green Lantern symbol inside the white circle.

Kilowog took a moment to collect himself before speaking.

"I got carried away. There I admit it. Happy now?" he grumbled.

"Ecstatic." The woman deadpanned. Naruto and the others were wondering who she was to command him like that.

"Attention poozers!" he ordered. They all fell in line immediately. "This is Laira, my second in command."

After the brief introduction Laira started walking up to the recruits.

"Arisia, how are you doing young one?" she asked of the young lady.

"It's been rough at first but I am adjusting." she responded.

"Good. Do not be discouraged, you will bring honor the Corps in due time." she said with a smile. Turning then to B'dg who was still on Arisia's shoulder.

"You are C'hp's replacement are you not?" she asked. B'dg immediately stood at attention on Arisia's shoulder which Naruto couldn't help but find it a little cute.

"Yes ma'am. I hope to be able to honor his memory." said the little guy.

"You will. It was your predecessor that reminded me that a Lantern can make a difference no matter their size." she said with a smile on his face. B'dg seemed to blush at that.

"And you are Galius." she said turning to him. "As you know, the Lantern who held this ring," she raised her hand to him. "Was one of your kind. Need I say more?"

Galius nodded in respect to her.

She then turned to Naruto.

"So this is the Ajnian who managed to defeat Kilowog." she said. "Tomar-Re was a trusted friend and ally to most everyone in the Corps. Wear his ring with pride." she said. Naruto nodded in acknowledgment.

"Which, from the description of your fight with Kilowog should not be a problem." she said with a smile.

"Alright that's enough with the meet and greet." said Kilowog. "Don't let her nice and respectful tone fool you poozers. She's an even tougher trainer then me. The reason you don't see her all that much is because she's usually on missions. Today is a special case."

"Indeed." Laira responded. "As Kilowog said my training methods are much tougher then my superior officers. Those I train are either some of the toughest in the Corps or they drop out."

This made them all a little afraid. She seemed so calm about it that it frightened even Naruto a bit. On the other hand some part of him was intrigued.

"Because of this I only choose a few to train. Since this group is only four of you I will only choose one." said Laira. She then walked to Naruto.

"I'll take this one from here Kilowog." she said. Arisia and the others breathed a sigh of relief despite not being all that surprised.

"Okay then Laira. Just remember to meet us at Hall of Great Service at 1330." Kilowog said. Laira nodded in response.

"Alright rookies, let's leave these two to get acquainted." Kilowog ordered. He then flew off.

Before they joined him Arisia, Galius, and B'dg turned to Naruto.

"Good luck Naruto." said Arisia.

"I have heard of Laira Omoto Naruto. She's one of the best in the Corps. You should be honored she's taken you in...although I don't envy you." said Galius.

"Thanks Galius that makes feel so much better." said Naruto sarcastically.

The big beach ball just shrugged his shoulders.

"See you at the Hall." said B'dg.

"See you there." said Naruto.

His three classmates flew off after Kilowog, leaving Laira and Naruto alone on the platform. After a moment of silence, Laira spoke.

"Are you afraid?" she asked.

"I'm sorry?" asked Naruto.

"I asked if you were afraid?" the trainer asked again. Naruto contemplated this question and decided to be honest.

"A little bit." he answered.

He thought she would be disappointed at his answer but to his surprise she just stood there with no expression.

"I can sense that. But it's not me your afraid of is it?" Naruto shook his head. "And it's not death either. What are you scared of?"

"Not being good enough to live up to Tomar-Re or any of the other Lanterns." said Naruto. Laira looked at him perplexed.

"I think you're doing fine so far. Looking at Kilowog is proof of that. But the reason I asked was to prove that you do feel fear." said Laira. Naruto looked at her feeling a little angry at her.

"But you're not a coward for feeling it." she clarified as if he could feel her anger. Seeing him calm down she continued. "We all feel fear. Anyone, Lantern or otherwise, that tells you different is a fool or to ashamed to admit it. Just because our rings choose us to because we can overcome fear does not mean we should not fear. And while you will face those who would use you're fear to defeat you your ability to overcome will be your greatest weapon. Keep this in mind at all times."

Naruto nodded in understanding. With a look that appeared to be satisfaction on her face Laira continued on with her lesson.

"Since you have already proven your fighting ability in hand to hand combat and your ability to survive we will begin with weapons training." she told him. "As with Kilowog, I feel the best way to assess your ability is through sparring." she then made a sword construct.

"Shall we begin?" she asked while getting into a stance.

Truth was Naruto was kind of hoping this would be the case. He always learned better when putting a lesson in practice then just talking about it.

Now he figured that from the database they had she knew that his people were ninjas and were skilled in battle. So he had to choose his construct carefully. Finally, he decided to go with something from his time with Asuma and formed two chakra blades into both his hands.

As he got into his own stance Laira looked at his blade constructs.

_'Interesting choice. Those are not what I would expect from a shinobi.'_ Laira thought referencing from Earth's history and what they knew of Ajnin.

A few seconds were paused as they stared at each other waiting for one to make the first move. Finally, Naruto had enough waiting and rushed forward.

Like Kilowog, Laira was surprised on how fast he was moving. However, it didn't shake her resolve as it did him. She slashed at his head attempting to head him off. Naruto ducked under the blade however. He then spun around and sliced at her midsection. She deflected it. From there it moved with them slashing and twirling around each other, ducking then striking at each other. Green sparks lit where their blades touched.

Laira managed, somewhat, at using her weapon's range to keep Naruto at bay. Naruto however had more than one weapon in hand, not to mention the blades he used left him able to perform effective taijutsu moves. And he could close the distance easier then she liked.

She soon had the sword gripped in two hands and slashed at him with all her might. Naruto used both his blades to block the strike. From there he turned around and hit her gut with a back kick. Skidding across the ground, she held her stomach reeling from the force of the blow. Naruto didn't give her time to recover as he ran forward. She managed to get her sword up and barely managed to block the series of slashes that came her way.

After deflecting another strike she made another stab at him. Naruto jumped out of the way of the attack and landed with his back to hers. They then parted and attacked at the same time with Naruto using his right hand for the attack. The two then stood pushing against each other, Naruto having to make his left blade disappear so he could grab his right hand to apply more pressure.

As they struggled against each other Laira was trying to maintain her level head and figure out what to next. She was actually very impressed with Naruto's prowess so far. His ability at close range combat was at least on her level, perhaps better. She had a strange feeling that he was holding back. Probably because this was just sparring and not an actual fight.

_'I would not want to be his enemy.'_  she thought to herself.

Yet she was seeing something else in Naruto eyes that had her concerned. As if, for a moment, he was here fighting not her but someone else, if the rage she saw in his eyes was any indication.

Deciding to get some distance Laira disengaged their bind, managing to kick Naruto in the face, knocking him away several feet before he rolled into a crouch.  
 **  
** **'Kid concentrate. Keep your head here not in the past.'** Kurama ordered Naruto.

'Yeah I got it I'm back.' Naruto responded shaking his head. The clash between him and Laira had caused him to begin having flash backs from his fight with Sasuke again, namely how at one point he had used one chakra blade to hold him off.

However, fighting Laira was very much different then fighting Sasuke. Like night and day. Sasuke was good but Laira was something else entirely.

Point proven when her sword transformed into a bow. Suddenly, Naruto found himself dodging arrows. He returned the favor by projecting several shuriken at her. Thanks to the ring he managed to produce them directly into his hand. Before he knew it Laira had managed to produce a shield to deflect the many ninja weapons.

She braced herself as the sound of the fifty shuriken clanged against her shield. When the assault was over there were many cracks on her shield but it had not broken. She concentrated and the cracks repaired themselves.

Naruto stood for a moment thinking on what to do next. He made a kunai construct and threw it at her shield. The crack that it made was larger than the others but again she concentrated and it repaired itself.

He stood once again thinking on his next move. He looked at Laira's condition. He could tell she was getting tired by the subtle way she was trying to catch her breath and from the slight sweat on her brow. He knew that if he kept going he could just tire her out, although he was starting to feel some of the strain from using the ring it was nowhere near her level.

**'C'mon Kid. This is isn't like you to just stand there and think about your next move.'**  Kurama commented.

_'I know Kurama. It just that everything I throw at her can't break that shield.'_ Naruto responded looking down at another kunai construct. Naruto though about using exploding kunai to destroy the shield but this was supposed to be a spar. Exploding kunai is something you use to kill the enemy.

_'If only I could channel chakra into my constructs. I know I could breach it then.'_ Naruto thought as he was forced back into dodging more arrows as Laira transformed her shield construct back to a bow.

**'I know except any weapon you have is made from the ring.'**  Kurama advised. But as he said it both he and the ninja suddenly had an idea.

_'You think it would work?'_ Naruto asked Kurama while getting his head out of the way of an arrow.  
 **  
** **'It's worth a try.'**  The fox responded.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, formed another kunai construct into his hand and concentrated his chakra but instead of the kunai he focused on the ring itself. The ring then glowed blue from the chakra and in turn the kunai construct glowed blue.

Behind her shield Laira looked upon the construct with curiosity, but before she had a chance to think about the change, Naruto threw it at her. She braced herself in preparation for another impact, turning her bow back into a shield.

That curiosity quickly turned to fear when instead of impacting the shield it instead sliced its way through her shield as if it was made of butter. The blade barely managed to give her a small cut across her cheek.

_'How did he do that?'_  she thought to herself in astonishment.

She saw Naruto had a smirk on his face.

Laira grimaced and made her shield disappear. She made two sword constructs. Naruto in turn made his two chakra blades again. Again, Laira saw that the weapons had the same blue glow on them.  
 **  
** **'You got this Kid. Finish it!' e** ncouraged Kurama.

_'Don't be too sure. She's a lot better than Kilowog was in our fight. My guess is since she knows I can get through her defenses she's going to go for an all out assault, and ideally, try to take me out with one blow.'_ Naruto responded in thought.

**'Then I suggest you do the same. Although she's closer I believe you still have the slight edge in speed. That could be change if you just put chakra in your feet though.'**  Kurama responded.  
 _  
_ _'No. I already showed off my chakra manipulation. I don't want to show off more then I already have. Besides, it's not fair. If she were an enemy I wouldn't hesitate but she isn't._ ' Naruto responded.  
 **  
** **'Very well just end it already!'** Kurama said with a huff. Naruto just smiled and got into a stance.

The two of them stood across for a moment waiting to see who would make the first move. Just like the beginning of the match Naruto decided to charge in. What was different though was that Laira moved at him at the same time.

Laira slashed at him with her left sword hand first to try and catch him with a killing stroke. Naruto ducked under it however and at the same time slice the sword in two with his right blade. Laira however remained cool this time and dodged the blade. Strangely enough this time Laira held the broken blade.

From there they turned to each other again. Naruto at the last instant changed his blade into a kunai, flipped it into a reverse grip and attacked to where the bladed just stopped at her neck while at the same time he stabbed her stomach just short of her stomach.

Unfortunately, at the same time Laira used her sword on her right and had its blade resting on his neck. What Naruto failed to notice was that she turned her broken sword into a dagger and had it stop short of his stomach.

So they stood staring. Laira was pretty much panting at this point while still trying to look composed while Naruto seemed only mildly winded.

"Shall we call this one a draw then?" said Laira.

Naruto nodded in response and they both disengaged from each other their weapons disappearing. Laira kneeled down putting her hands on her knees as she tried to get her breath back.

"Nice move. I didn't check to see you turning that broken sword into a dagger." commented Naruto.

As soon as she got her breath back Laira stood back up.

"Even a broken construct can be used. Remember that." she instructed wiping the sweat from her brow. "Still you caught me by surprise with your constructs being enhanced like that. Was that your chakra being used?"

"Yeah." said Naruto not giving a full explanation on how it worked.

"It was impressive. As was your performance. Kilowog's report on you was doing you an injustice." said.

"Thank you...sensei." said Naruto bowing. The Lantern did the same.

"You are welcome." said Laira.

"So...what do you plan for me to do for training since I'm transferred to your charge?" he asked . Laira put her finger to her chin in contemplation.

"A good question. We don't usually have recruits so well seasoned as yourself, nor do I remember any recruit who takes the ring as easily as you do. Our spar and your destruction of the practice dummy is proof of that." she explained. "I did notice something however. You have faced those using swords before yes?"

Naruto grimaced at the memory of the last person he fought who used a sword. "Yes. Suffice it to say I have a lot of experience fighting swordsman." he responded.

"Yet you have never wielded a sword yourself?" she asked.

"No I haven't." said Naruto. Laira smiled then at that.

"Good. Then that is where your training will be. Instead of working on reinforcing your willpower we will instead focus on your imagination. I can tell you Naruto that you have a vivid imagination but you have been limited by the weapons of your time. So my job will be to expand your weapon base and the use of each construct that you use. By the time your training is done you will be a fully fledged weapon master." Laira said.

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the prospect of that.

"We will begin you training tomorrow. For now we should head towards the Hall as it is almost that time." she said.

"Just one more thing, sensei. Before we go," said Naruto. Laira turned to him again. "Just out of curiosity have you ever seen anyone besides myself use energy to enhance their constructs?"

"To be honest no I have not. Then again we have not met a species who had anything resembling this chakra network that your kind possess. In short Naruto, you are question that has never been asked. Never mind answered." said Laira.

Naruto soon contemplated the level of impact of what his new sensei had said. And while they flew to the Hall of Great Service Naruto began to think on something that he and Kurama were now wondering.

What else can he do with his chakra enhancing his ring? More importantly what exactly happened when they fused their chakra together?  
 **  
** **(Hall of Great Service)** ****  
  
Naruto and Laira had arrived just in time to join the others outside the main door to the Hall of Great Service. When the doors opened they found Salaak there to greet them.

Out of all the aliens Naruto had encountered so far Salaak was by far the strangest one with his odd shaped head and four arms. He could also see that he had an air of authority as he nodded to his fellow lanterns.

"Welcome recruits. I am Salaak. I am known as the Clarissi of the Green Lantern Corps. However, until further notice given certain events I am now also Archivist Superior of the Green Lanter Corps." he looked at Naruto which suggested who was had the duty of Archivist Superior before Salaak. "Would any of you like to ask any questions before we head inside?" he asked. Naruto had a question but it wasn't for Salaak. So he joined the others by shaking his head.

"Follow me then." said Salaak. As they entered the Hall Naruto looked to his new mentor for his question.

"Laira-Sensei if you don't mind me asking what is Clarissi?" he asked.

"It's a rank more or less. The rank he is afforded makes him second in command to the Guardians themselves. In short for missions and such we go to him." said Laira.

'That means that got a lot of authority among the Corps.' Kurama said. Naruto readily agreed with him on that as they went inside.

The Hall itself was probably the largest library Naruto had ever seen in his entire life. It spanned upward like tower. In the center of the library was book the size of a large building in front of them. It was hardbound with green and gold covering and had the symbol of the corps on it.

"What you see before you is the Book of Oa. The most important text in all of the Green Lantern Corps. Contained inside its pages are the laws in which we live by along with it the tales and the exploits of the finest Green Lanterns of all time." said Salaak.

Naruto, Arisia, Galius, and B'dg looked at the book with reverence and awe. With a gesture Salaak had the book open to the first page.

"Contained in this first page are the Ten Laws and Principles that you all will uphold to when you become fully fledged members of the Corps." said Salaak.

As he began reciting the Ten Laws and Principles to the recruits Laira and Kilowog hanged back and watched them from a far.

"So how did you find Naruto?" said Kilowog.

"Your report did not do him justice." said Laira now starting to feel sore from her spar with the young Ajnian.

"Yet you seem in better shape than me when I fought the poozer." said Kilowog.

"If you are implying that I won the spar think again. It came to a draw." said Laira.

"Are you serious!?" exclaimed Kilowog as he never heard of anyone making Laira declare a spar a draw. Normally she defeats her opponents with little effort.

"The one part of your report that was accurate was the fact that he tends to hold back. I know now if I were the enemy there was every chance that I could be dead." she said. Kilowog stood there in shock.

'He's better then Laira?' he thought to himself looking at Naruto as he gave permission for B'dg to be on his shoulder so the little guy could see the book and Salaak better.

"His hand to hand skills are certainly up to par and he has more the adequate willpower and imagination. So I will be focusing on letting his imagination expand to beyond to the weapons he was taught to use on his world." Laira said explaining her lesson plan to her fellow instructor. "Something does trouble me though."

"What's that?" asked Kilowog.

"Before or during your fight with him did you notice anything odd? Like he seemed to be somewhere else?" Laira asked.

"Well during the fight he was knocking my lights out so no I wouldn't recall that." he said sarcastically. He then crossed his arms and though about before that happened. "But now that you mentioned it just before I started the fight, for that's what it was a fight, I noticed he was staring at the flames in camp on the planet we were on. It was like he was somewhere else in his head. And from the way his eyes seemed to have anger in them it was not a pleasant memory." he further explained.

"I see. Something similar happened with me. During our spar when our blades were locked there was a moment that he looked at me with the anger you spoke of. Yet there was also something else." said Laira.

"What was it?" he asked.

"Hatred. I think in that moment he didn't see me but someone else. Someone he hated. Hated with all his being." she said.

The two looked back on the recruits. Specifically Naruto as he and the others looked with rapt attention as Salaak had moved on from the laws and told them how the book recorded all the stories and deeds of Lantern's past.

"You think he might be suffering from some form of PTSD?" asked Kilowog.

" A valid concern given that his world just went through their Fourth Great Ninja War."said Laira.

"Still having a hard time with the fact that this kid, barely sixteen or seventeen, is a war vet." said Kilowog shaking his head.

"Indeed. Still I think it has more to do with a person and not the war itself." said Laira. "Perhaps an early session with Mogo might help him."

"Isn't that usually reserved for full fledged Lanterns after they have suffered a brutal mission?" he questioned.

"Usually. But Mogo has always been the psychiatrist of the Corps. If Naruto is suffering from something mental or emotional as we suspect then it might best to send him to Mogo." Laira explained.

"If he does for the most part he hides it pretty damn well." said Kilowog looking at him interacting and talking with B'dg. "But then again it might explain why Mogo has been hanging around here since he arrived."

"Indeed. But we shall have to table it for now." said Laira as the lesson was about to end.

"Are there any questions?" asked Salaak as Laira and Kilowog approached him and their charges. He then noticed Kilowog and B'dg struggling to hold laughter.

"Excuse me recruits Naruto and B'dg but is there something funny?" he questioned.

Both struggling to keep a straight face they looked back at Salaak. "No sir." B'dg said still on Naruto's shoulder. "It's just...well."

"Spit it out already." ordered Salaak in tone similar to that of a librarian.

"We were just commenting on...well your head sir." said Naruto again struggling to keep from laughing.

"And what is wrong with my head?" he asked with his bottom arms on his hips and his top one's crossed across his chest.

"Nothing sir. It just well it reminded both of us of-"

"A pickle." said B'dg soon laughing his head off on Naruto's shoulder who then found himself laughing no longer able to hold it in.

The laughter soon became infectious and Arisia was trying to still look professional while trying not to giggle. Galius wasn't sure about the joke.

Kilowog on the other hand to their surprise soon had a full belly laugh with Laira just have a full smile on her face.

Salaak just sighed.

_'Here we go again.'_  he thought to himself as he looked at the top of the Hall as if he were looking at the sky.  _'Your legacy lives on C'hp.'_

**(Naruto's room. 1800 Oa Standard Time)**

'I still think this a bad idea Kid.' said Kurama as Naruto once again slung the container scroll on his back as he prepared to leave.

They had just returned from the time in the Hall of Great Service. Both Kilowog and Laira decided that it was enough for one day to the relief of Arisia, B'dg and Galius. So while the others headed to the Dining Hall for dinner Naruto found himself not that hungry and told the others he was going to bed early.

Which actually meant that now that he had time to work on ninjutsu training at long last.

_'What am I supposed to do Kurama? This is the first time since we arrived on Oa that I have any free time I have to make the most of it.'_  Naruto responded.

**'But what about dinner then? You need to eat to keep up your strength.'** said Kurama.  
 _  
_ _'You just want more of that prime rib.'_ Naruto responded exiting the door and walking out of the complex.  
 **  
** **'C'mon Kid you have to admit it was delicious.'**  said the tailed beast. Naruto could hear his companion's mouth watering at the thought of that steak. In truth, Naruto couldn't blame him.

_'I'll ask the chef for some leftovers before he closes down the Dining Hall. I'm sure he keeps late hours.'_  said Naruto as the flew off. From there he tried to find a place on the planet where he could train without being disturbed.

It wasn't like on Ajnin where there was specific training area he could go. At least one for training in as a ninja from his home world. Still there had to be one place on Oa that was deserted.

**'Okay Kid. Say we do find one place on this big city of a planet where you can train. What then? Even if you do the Guardians more than likely track all their Lanterns and recruits through the rings. If you wish to keep the majority of your abilities a secret then you gonna have to do something about that.'**  Kurama explained.

Naruto stopped flying and just hovered over the large city complex. The fox was right. The Guardians would be sure to find out about it. For the most part they left their Lanterns to their own devices but on Oa things were monitored a little too close for his liking.

_'I don't know!'_ he cried in frustration.  _'All I know is that I have to train on these new wind jutsu and start on my fujnjutsu training Not to mention find out what will happen if we use Nine-Tailied Chakra Mode or Tailed Beast Mode with the ring on. And to top it off I still don't know what my second element is yet. All this with my ring training is making my head spin!'_ he exclaimed rubbing his head in frustration to which Kurama sympathized with.

_**'Perhaps I can be of some help.'**_ said a large booming but at the same time soothing force in his head. Naruto looked around to see who spoke in his mind and found no one.

_"Kurama that wasn't you was it?"_ Naruto said out loud.

**'No Kid it definitely was not me!'**  said Kurama panicking. Until now he had been able to block anyone from getting inside Naruto's head. Although he hadn't had the chance he was confident he could keep most telepathic aliens from getting into his mind. Even the Guardians themselves if they tried. Although Naruto thought that was more of a pride thing.

This new voice in his head had Naruto start to doubt him a bit.

_**'Don't be too hard on your friend. My abilities surpass even the Guardians themselves though I don't think they know it.'**_ said the mysterious voice with humor.

"Who are you!?" said Naruto getting his ring and himself ready to fight.

_**'Do not be frightened young recruit. I apologize for my abruptness. I mean neither you nor your friend any harm.'**_ said the voice. This calmed Naruto and Kurama but they were both still wary.

_**'Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mogo. Green Lantern of Sector 2261.'**_ said the voice now known as Mogo.

Naruto was starting to relax a little after hearing that but he was still suspicious. Kurama was the same.

"If you're a Green Lantern why don't you come out of hiding then so we can speak face to face?" Naruto demanded.

_**'I am not hiding young one. In fact you, Ganthet, and Hal Jordan passed by me when you first arrived on Oa.'s**_ aid Mogo.

Naruto then thought about what Mogo was saying when he said he flew by him. That couldn't be right.

The only thing that he passed by was...

Naruto then looked up to the large moon with the Green Lantern symbol on it.

"Okay so you're some big shot Lantern who just happens to live on Oa's moon." said Naruto.

He soon heard Mogo laugh as if there was something that he was missing. A hidden joke as it were.

"What's so funny!?" Naruto yelled at the planet above him.  
 **  
** **'Naruto Mogo isn't on the planet. He** **is** **the planet.'** said Kurama in an tone that Naruto could mistake as awe.

Naruto himself looked at the moon above and could not believe what his friend was saying.  
 _  
_ _'You can't be serious Kurama. That is not possible.'_  Naruto said to Kurama in his mind.

_**'Young man.'**_ said Mogo hearing what Naruto said.  _ **'Until just a few days ago you did not even know of the Green Lantern Corps never mind anything revolving around the universe at large. Now after everything you have seen in these last few days can you truly believe that there is no such thing as a living planet?**_ **'**

Naruto soon lower his ring hand and looked at Mogo dejectedly.

**'Guy's got a point...if you can call a planet a guy anyway.'**  said Kurama.

"Alright I'm sorry...Mogo. It's just I got a lot on my plate right now." said Naruto.  
 _ **  
**_ _ **'I know hence why I have now decided to communicate with you.'**_  said Mogo going to the matter at hand. 'However it would be best if we continued this if you were to simply fly and land on me. Unless you are not concerned with just hovering and waiting for another Lantern to take notice?'

Naruto nodded and flew towards Mogo. Thanks to his travels from planet to planet with Kilowog he was a little more comfortable traveling in space. It also helped that Mogo was so close to Oa's orbit that it may as well been the planet's moon.

Soon he was hovering above the planet still not sure if everything he had been told was true. He wondered wither or not this Mogo could be trusted or not.

_**'Land Naruto. Again you have nothing to fear from me.'**_ Mogo reassured.

Naruto, being who he is, decided to do as the planet, if that was who was talking, asked. He then flew down to Mogo's surface.

As he looked down on Mogo's surface he couldn't help but look upon it. Unlike Oa, which seemed like the whole planet was a technological marvel, Mogo was filled with nothing but lush forests as far as the eye could see. Plant life as far as the eye could see covered the planet.

_'This is paradise.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he landed in clearing in a forest. One of the many that was on Mogo.

"Okay I'm here. Now what?" Naruto said to the sky of Mogo while taking off the sealing scroll from his back and putting it on the ground.  
 _ **  
**_ __ **'As I said young one I am offering you a place to train in your art as well as private training for your ring if you wish. As long as you are on my surface the Guardians cannot track you or whatever you wish to do.'**  said the living planet.  
 **  
** **'That's generous and all but the Kid and I can tend to blow stuff up when we train. I can safely say we do not wish you any harm.' s** aid Kurama which Naruto nodded to.

_**'I assure you both that I am well versed in taking punishment on a planetary scale. Suffice it to say I am a fast healer thanks to my ring.'**_ said Mogo.

Naruto wasn't sure how to take that. But then again this guy was in fact a planet. A fact that Naruto was still having trouble wrapping his head around.

_**'But before you begin your training my help comes with a price.'**_ said Mogo.

"Of course. There's always a catch." said Naruto already getting ready to leave as soon as he heard that.

_**'I admit that there is an alternative reason why I asked for you to come here. Both Laira and Kilowog have informed me that you may be suffering from an event that happened back on your home world. And I can see that they are correct.'**_  said Mogo.

"What you can read my mind too?" questioned Naruto. "Well if my teachers think I'm suffering from PTSD they are wrong!"

_**'No it is not that from which you suffer. At least not the kind that comes from war.'**_ Mogo said partially agreeing with the young recruit.  _ **'No what you suffer from is a memory. Something traumatic that happened after words.'**_

Naruto's mind immediately flashed back to when he was holding a dead Sakura in his arms before clinching his eyes shut to try an block it out and to keep tears from falling.

"So what...you're the Corps psychiatrist?" asked Naruto.

_**'In a manner of speaking yes. Lanterns often come to me and I help them deal with the dual lives that they live with while in the Corps.'**_ Mogo responded.

"Well I appreciate the offer Mogo but I don't need a shrink. I'll find somewhere else somehow." said Naruto already picking up his scroll.

"I think you should stay." said a familar feminine voice not too far from Naruto. He stood still after that looking around.

_'I'm hearing things.'_ Naruto thought to himself shaking his head.

"No you're not Naruto." said the same familiar voice again as if she was reading his mind. Naruto again shook his head that was impossible.

But then he heard footsteps and rustling of the forest as he heard someone approach him from behind. Then the rustling stopped and he heard the person behind him. He drew a kunai construct and turned to face the person behind the voice.

What he saw made him drop the kunai and it disappeared instantly.

"Hello Naruto." said the girl. Naruto stared with his mouth open and eyes wide in astonishment.

"Sakura?" Naruto said looking up and down at this person who looked like her.

"Yep." she said with a sad smile on her face. She then walked until they were only a few feet apart. "Its me."

Naruto then paced around her looking at her. She looked exactly the same as she had before she died. Pink hair, piecing green eyes, a larger then normal forehead, even her clothes were the same as the day they were when they first met again after he left for two in a half years except she didn't have her gloves on.

Suddenly he stopped pacing and frowned.

"Okay Mogo this an impressive construct but I'm not buying it!" said Naruto angrily looking at Sakura again before turning to leave. "You can't trick me that easily."

As he turned he suddenly got a familiar feeling in his gut. Luckily this time he decided to duck under as Sakura's fist missed him and knocked the tree behind him down shattering it in half.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here Naruto!" said Sakura with her right hand clinched into a fist staring down at a bewildered Naruto.

From his part Naruto could see the familiar anger that Sakura always had but at the same time he could see hurt in her eyes.

"Sakura? Is that actually you!?" said Naruto as he got up and stared at her once again.

"Yes Naruto its me! And I am not a construct as you see from the fact that I am not covered in green!" yelled Sakura. She then took a deep breath to calm herself

**'Well she certainly seems like her. Temper and all.'** said Kurama.

"But...how? You-You're dead." said Naruto.

"Yeah...I was hoping you wouldn't notice that." said Sakura almost shyly. "Don't ask me how this works but somehow I think that this place, this being, can somehow make people see the people they have lost. Again don't ask me how he's doing he just is." said Sakura.

"So what? You're here yet you're not?" said Naruto.

"Pretty much." said Sakura.

"So then what are you if you're not a construct? Some ghost Mogo sent to torment me?" said Naruto almost in tears.

"Not torture. I think Mogo set this up so we could talk." she said.

"Again why!?" he yelled.

"I think we both know why Naruto." she said. "To help you." Sakura then walked around him looking him over as he did her a moment ago.

"What are you staring at?" Naruto asked as Sakura had an odd smile on her face.

"Nothing. Just that you happen to look handsome in that uniform. Fills out in all the right places." she said.

Naruto was face was beet red when she said that, which made it seem all the more impossible as she never once said anything like that to him since he had known her, nor did she ever speak to him in a tone that sounded like she was flirting with him.

Naruto shook his head as he tried to control his blush.

"I know what you're thinking right now Naruto." said Sakrua getting his attention back "Your thinking how can I be saying these things? I never have before. Well Naruto I can tell you now dying can really change how you see things...or even before said event." she continued sadly.

"You mean when you went after Sasuke alone?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah...which is part of why I'm here now I think." said Sakura. "You still think about it don't you. Me dying and your fight with Sasuke. You still carry some of the anger from that day."

Naruto looked down and nodded.

"Thought so." said Sakura.

"I don't regret it...killing Sasuke I mean. I thought I would given how it went down in the end but I don't." said Naruto then looked down again in shame. How could he say that to the girl who loved Sasuke more than anything.

"Good." said Sakura.

"What!?" said Naruto surprised at Sakura's cold tone when she said that.

"I said good. What, did you expect me to feel sorry for him?" said Sakura.

"But..." said Naruto.

"Naruto...my feelings for Sasuke ended the day he decided to leave us again after the battles with Obito and Madara. When he tried to use the tailed beasts just as he did. He became obsessed with his clan and how they were dying off, thanks in large part to you by the way. He couldn't stand that. My feelings were the remains of someone who hadn't grown up and didn't see what Sasuke had become. The Sasuke that I thought we knew died years ago and it took that moment to realize that at long last. So don't you dare feel sorry for him." she said with so much conviction that Naruto could not help but believe her.

"But that isn't why I'm angry." he said.

"Then what is then? I know the answer Naruto. The question is: do you?" asked Sakura.

Naruto thought about it for a long time. Thought about that moment from the time when he held Sakura as she bled out from the stab wound that Sasuke landed on her. He then started to cry.

"I failed you Sakura." he said kneeling down in front of her. "I couldn't save him for you. I couldn't save you from him either. I tried. With everything I tried. I thought with the war over everything would turn out all right. Even if..."

"Even if you couldn't have me." said Sakura.

"Exactly! I thought with ending Obito's plan and us sealing Kaguya that it would all fall into place. Like a naive child." said Naruto. "Why did you go after Sasuke alone!? Why didn't you wait for me!?" he said with tears flowing from his eyes. "Just...why?"

Sakura walked over to him and kneeled down to look at him in the eye. "Because I wanted to make up for what I put you through. That stupid promise that I made you make to me. And I didn't want to force you into anything anymore." said Sakura.

"I made that promise to you of my own free will." said Naruto. I knew what it entailed. I just wanted you to be happy. And Sasuke-"

"Sasuke didn't make me happy. He never did I see that now." said Sakura. She then placed both of her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look at her.

"Naruto. Think back. To the moment you held me dying in your arms. You blocked out what I said but I know you heard it. Think back." she asked gently.

Naruto closed his eyes clinching them hard as he remembered that point of that day.

**(Flashback)**

Naruto had managed to catch Sakura. Seeing the wound inflicted on her he cursed himself with having never learned even basic medical jutsu. All he could do was just hold her as the wound bled out.

Naruto saw himself telling her to hold on. Suddenly Sakura put her right hand over his cheek urging him closer to her face. Inches apart he heard her whisper to him with he last dying breath.

"It...should have been...you." she said. Her eyes darkened as her last breath passed.

**(End Flashback)**

Naruto looked at her shocked at what he just remembered. Soon more tears began to flow.

"Why now Sakura? Why show me this now when I know you're gone?" Naruto asked.

"Because I wanted to let you know how I feel. Truly Naruto, it should have been you. You were always there for me when I needed it. I just didn't realize it until it was too late." said Sakura sadly. She then move her left hand off his cheek and placed it on the white circle on his chest.

"You're on a new path now Naruto. One that is beyond anything any of our people have ever been on before. But in order to move forward you had to face your past. That's what Mogo is doing." said Sakura. "You have to let me go."

"I-I don't want to even if I could…how could I?." said Naruto.

"Naruto there is so much for you now. To see and to do. Your story must continue." said Sakura. "I'm not asking you to forget me cause despite everything I have done to you, to your heart, you wouldn't. I'm only asking that you move on from me." she said looking at him straight in the eye. "Besides you deserve better."

Naruto tried to protest but Sakura just grabbed his hands. "Naruto how long have you let me hit or punch you or just beat you?" she asked suddenly. Naruto, even with tears rolling on his face, looked sheepishly.

"Since before I returned to Konoha after being away for two in half years." said Naruto.

"That's what I thought. And believe it or not I can count on one hand how many times you actually deserved it. One thing I can say about dying...it can open one's eyes." said Sakura. Naruto could tell that Sakura was close to tears. He always hated to see her cry.

Sakura took a deep breath. "Naruto...I'm not going to make you say another promise to me cause I think the last one scarred you enough for one lifetime. I only hope that in this new life you have chosen for yourself I want you to be happy. To do things for yourself for once. But I also know that you will adhere to your duties as this Green Lantern...Kami I'm dead and I'm having trouble processing all this." she said with a tone like she couldn't understand any of this happening.

"Don't ever cut yourself off from the friends that you will make and those you still have on our home world. Kami knows you can learn a lot from that lazy ass Shikamaru. But most of all...find someone else. A woman who can do what I didn't from the start. Someone you can share your heart with and not get it torn apart like I did."

"You didn't Sakura." Naruto said trying to interject.

"That's sweet Naruto but I think deep down you know that isn't true. In any case I know that when you find someone she will be the luckiest girl ever when she gets you." said Sakura. For a few moments they just stared at each other their hands clasped together.

"You have to go don't you?" he asked. Though grateful for this chance to talk with the girl he fell in love with for the last time part of him still didn't want her to leave.

"I do." said Sakura.

"I don't want you to." said Naruto. "I wish you could stay."

"No you don't. Not anymore." said Sakura. "You'll still remember me?"

"Always." said Naruto with a nod. Sakura nodded back and parted her hands from his. She then grabbed his cheeks, leaned in and to Naruto's surprise gently kissed him on the lips. He stood stunned for a moment before closing his eyes and joined in the kiss wrapping his arms around her waist. It only lasted a moment before they parted.

"Thank you." said Naruto.

"We're even now. I got your first kiss." said Sakura jokingly as she stood up. "Not I believe you have some work to do." said walking away backwards. "Goodbye Naruto." From there Sakura disappeared in a shower of green sparkle dust similar to what happened after he met his mother in his mind.

Naruto closed his eyes just like then as the sparkle dust flowed past him.

"Goodbye Sakura." said Naruto.

He just sat there for the next few minutes taking deep breaths and wiping his tears.

**'Kid you okay?'** asked Kurama speaking for the first time as he kept silent letting Naruto have this moment with Sakura. If that was her at all or not neither of them could say. But reality called back.

_'I am. For once actually I mean that. Thanks Kurama.'_ Naruto responded. He then looked up to the sky.

"I'm assuming that I fulfilled my part. Me being on your "chair" as it were Mogo?" asked Naruto.

_**'You have Naruto Uzumaki. Though the memory of your trauma will remain you have made the first step on you path away from it. The rest is up to you.'**_ said Mogo

"So that means I can use you as a training ground then?" Naruto asked.

_**'Yes. I will be in orbit for some time on Oa unless my sector calls to me. But it is late now. I suggest you return to Oa to rest. You may return after you are done but preferably after you have eaten. Agreed?'**_ Mogo asked.

"Agreed...it's been a tiring day." said Naruto. Grabbing his scroll he then flew off Mogo and headed back. Tomorrow would be a new day.

**(End Chapter)**

_Not entirely happy with this chapter. But then I never seem to be. I blame exhaustion this shoddy work._

_One thing I must say now is that yes I am a NaruSaku shipper. However, I am not going to stand here and ignore that Sakura has done a lot wrong by our boy Naruto over the years. So for the sake of this story I had to do something to get him to move on as it were. She was still the girl Naruto first fell in love with. I had to honor that in some way. Its up to you wither or not I did that or not._

_Rest assured I will finish his arc with the Green Lanterns and heading into YJ before the year ends I promise you all that. But this year seems to be my year of losing friends._

_As I said before in April I suffered a loss of a friend. Now in September I lose another this time to cancer. So between that and real life known as work I have been to exhausted to do much of anything except sit on my butt. However, I hope to get out of this prologue stage that I have made in my story and get to the meat of it soon._

_Thank you all for you continued support. Truly, and I know this gets thrown around a lot, but I am humbled that so many of you like this story. Especially given that it is my first. See you next chapter._


	8. Graduation

**(Anti-Matter Universe, Qward, Fear Lodge Chamber)**

"Would you mind repeating what you told me?" asked Sinestro as he and Lyssa Drak walked through the chamber. Contained inside were almost egg like cells, just large enough to be able to hold one being at a time. It was the last test of any recruit who was chosen by the ring of the Sinestro Corps. As it happened their latest had passed the initial training phase with relative ease.

This recruit that they picked up from Ajnin had finished training early on with him not only defeating Romat-Tu but Arkillo as well with Sinestro himself having to stop before he killed them. No small feat to be sure.

But the real indicator was from what Lyssa had told him that he asked repeated.

"As per usual after he had completed martial training we put him into one of the Fear Lodges forcing him to overcome his greatest fear or die in the cell." she explained. "Remarkably he managed to conquer it in just two days."

"Most impressive." said Sinestro. "But then explain why he went back inside?"

"He said he was fascinated by the experience. However, since the Lodge's function was done it would not perform the same way again. Now he just sits examining it." Lyssa explained as they approached the person in question. They saw him sitting cross legged in front of the Fear Lodge that he had used. He also seemed to be using his ring to take notes on the device.

"And the life signs that it detected have they been confirmed?" he asked.

"Yes. But when I approached him about it he said he would only speak to you about it Sinestro." said Lyssa. Sinestro then walked up to the man whose back was to him. The being that the ring had chosen from the planet Ajnin.

"Orochimaru." Sinestro called.

The man with long black hair turned to him being called. He was still in the uniform of the Sinestro Corps that he acquired when the ring chose him. The construct he was using, which appeared to be a notebook of some kind, disappeared as he stood up to address the new leader.

"Sinestro. How may I be of service?" said Orochimaru bowing to him. Their Ajnian recruit was a quick study on how the Corps functioned at least in part.

Sinestro himself decided to be cautious of him. For while he appeared to follow the chain of command one look in this man's gold slitted snake like eyes told him another story all together.

"Good morning Orochimaru" he greeted politely. "I understand you have become fascinated with our Fear Lodges."

"Indeed. This technology is unlike anything I have ever seen before." Orochimaru said.

"There is much that we have to show then." responded Sinestro. "However, there is something of some concern."

"Oh? What would that be?" Orochimaru asked. It was then that Lyssa moved next to her leader as she portrayed a medical diagram of a humanoid body using her ring. Orochimaru knew instinctively that it was his body that the read out showed.

"This is the medical readout that I received from the Fear Lodge while you were inside of it." she explained. "From what I have seen two things are wrong. First, while gradual, your body seems to be degrading at the cellular level."

"And the second?" he asked.

Lyssa then made a motion with her hand that the construct read out became more elaborate and showed the physical resemblance of the body. Sure enough, the body readout while in yellow did not match Orochimaru's physical appearance but rather the appearance of the White Zetsu he inhabited.

"As you can see the resemblance of the body doesn't match." said Sinestro in Lyssa's place. "Would you mind explaining these things?"

"Ah. I see some explanation is required." said Orochimaru. "I can answer the reason for both rather easily. But it will take some time."

"We have nothing pressing at the moment." said Sinestro crossing his arms. Lyssa had opened her Book of Parallax as if ready to record this explanation. Orochimaru bowed in respect and continued on.

"As you are no doubt aware by now I am something of a scientist on my world. During my time I wanted to learn and discover as many of my worlds' jutsu as I could. But naturally this would take a long time. Longer then a normal person on my worlds life span. So I created the Living Corpse Reincarnation ritual. This jutsu allows me to transfer my true form into one host body after another."

"Thus prolonging your own life as it were." said Lyssa.

"Correct. Now I can only perform it every three years. That is the reason as you my dear have just deduced is the body's deterioration. It will soon reject me since I am in it unnaturally. As for my appearance well I can change the outward appearance to what my form was before I...augmented my true form. For cosmetic purposes." he said with a smirk on his face.

"A handy technique and one that shows your resourcefulness." complimented Sinestro. "However, you can see the issue when it comes to my fellow members."

"Yes I have. Rest assured Sinestro I have no intention of "body snatching" any of my new comrades in arms. I simply need to find myself a proper container for myself. That has been a goal of mine for years." said Orochimaru. His tone suggesting his determination in such a goal.

Sinestro and Lyssa both looked to each other and nodded.

"Well then you might be in luck. We have a way to provide you with what you need." said Sinestro.

When he heard this Orochimaru's eyes widened in excitement.

"Our Guardian has already seen your records and has already come to a solution to your problem." Sinestro said noticing his new prospects keen excitement. "If you will follow me."

They soon both flew out of the chamber leaving Lyssa to her thought as she turned back to the Fear Lodges.

 _'Let's hope this doesn't destroy us.'_  she thought to herself.

**(Top floor: Guardian Chamber)**

Orochimaru and Sinestro flew into the large hallway landing just in front of the large door that had the corps symbol on it.

"I should tell you now." Sinestro said getting the Ajnian's focus back on him as Orochimaru admired the structure of the building. "Normally our Guardian doesn't take visitors very often. Even I only see her when she...commands it."

"Should I appear honored then?" Orochimaru question hearing the slight bitter tone from Sinestro's voice.

"That would be prudent." he said. From there the doors opened and they stepped inside.

Sinestro then noticed that Orochimaru had again a strange and, dare he say, scary look of fascination on his face. Almost as if as Hal like to say back when he was a Green Lantern a kid in a candy store.

Inside the inner chamber was a myriad of scientific equipment years ahead of anything that Orochimaru had seen on his home planet. It didn't take him long to realize that this was a scientist lab. One that made his look like it was in the dark ages.

"Impressive." he said in awe.

"It is adequate. Still not at the standard that I am used to." said a drawl female voice.

Orochimaru and Sinestro both looked up to see the source of that voice floating down before them. From the database that the ring provided Orochimaru knew that this small blue bald woman was Maltusian. The same race as the Guardians that formed the Green Lantern Corps.

However there were differences. For one thing instead of the usual red cloak they adorned she wore a yellow cloak with the Sinestro Corps symbol on the center rather than the Green Lantern symbol. Another was the burn like scar across the left side of her face.

What made Orochimaru nervous though was the cold eyes she had. The look that seemed to scream power and a certain breed of malice in them would have made the most hardened shinobi of his world quiver in fear.

"I take it this is the Ajnian Sinestro?" she questioned as she floated to look at both of them eye to eye.

"Yes he is." he said. "Allow me to introduce you Orochimaru to the Guardian of the Sinestro Corps. Scar herself."

"I am honored to meet you." said Orochimaru bowing before her.

"Well at least you have better manners then some others of our order." said Scar. Orochimaru didn't have to look up to know she was glaring at the supposed leader of the corps that was named after him.

Nor could he ignore the distaste in Sinestro's voice when he introduced her to him.

"You two can raise your heads now that the pleasantries are over. If you will both follow me." said Scar as she floated to the center of the room with Orochimaru and Sinestro in tow.

"Sinestro has informed me about you Orochimaru. He believes that you hold value to the Corps. Normally I am skeptical when he give such praise to a raw recruit. Especially one from a world that even I, up until just weeks ago, didn't know about." she said with a frown as they walked behind her hovering form.

"However, I cannot say that we are not in dire need of such given how...limited we are compared with the Green Lantern Corps." she continued now turning to Sinestro. Orochimaru could tell that Sinestro was biting his tongue.

"As such like him I have seen the data from your body scans and as I am sure that he told you I have come with the solution to your problem. If you will follow me." she said gesturing them to follow her to the center of the room.

There in the center were more computer panels. These however surrounded a large lab tank. Inside it was a human silhouette. Only this silhouette was completely white not so much different than the white Zetsu's that Orochimaru encountered during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

As they stopped in front it Orochimaru could see that besides it's was the form of a human male in perfect shape. Hands, feet and everything else was there and appeared normal. What set it apart was the fact that it was bald and seemed more like a corpse.

"I am to assume that this is the solution that Sinestro mentioned madam?" said Orochimaru.

"Indeed." Scar confirmed. "Thanks to some new allies I have managed to procure this chamber. The body you see is an artificial host body as I would call it. It was grown from simple microbe and has grown into a fully formed male body." she then turned to look at Orochimaru directly.

"This body has been designed to stop aging when it reached its fully mature state. In human and Ajnian standards of age it is between late twenties to early thirties. Once it reached maturity the body has since stopped aging. This artificial body will never age and has advanced regenerative abilities. So while this body is not immortal it will take extreme damage before termination.

Orochimaru listened to what the Guardian said while looking at the living corpse in front of him with delight in his eyes.

 _'At last. A suitable vessel for my soul to inhabit. And though not immortal it will be eternally young and be very durable. And even better, this woman has done most of the work modifying the body to suit my abilities in battle. Oh yes. It will more than suffice.'_  he thought to himself looking it over.

"Will this be satisfactory then?" she asked although she already knew what the answer will be.

"Is it ready then for me to enter it?" Orochimaru questioned in answer.

"Of course it is." said Scar with arrogance. "The only question then is how long your...jutsu will take and how long you will take to adapt and allocate with it."

"Oh normally it takes me only three days for me to adjust to my new 'clothes' so to speak." said Orochimaru with a smile. "However, since this body has no soul it will take me half the time needed. I'd say a day in a half at most."

"Excellent." said Sinestro breaking his silence "So if that is all I must take my leave. There are other matters I must attend to. I shall return in that time you have said it will take for you to get used to your new body." he then turned to Scar and gave a light bow to her. "Guardian." he said. She nodded as if she had given him permission to leave.

Sinestro started to fly out but hovered for a moment. "When you are done you will be officially recognized as one of us. Welcome Orochimaru." he said before flying out the door, closing it behind him.

"You should leave as well madam. Normally, when I reveal my true form to inhabit a body it can be quite...gruesome." said Orochimaru.

"I have seen worse." said Scar as she pressed the button to release the body from the tank. In truth, since finding out about this race she had been curious about this race's abilities and the scientist in her could not afford to leave such a thing unchecked.

Orochimaru shrugged as he stood in front of his new body as it knelled before him. As if in preparation to be sacrificed. He smiled at the irony as the familiar purple aura surrounded him.

It was then that Scar witnessed Orochimaru abandoning his current form into the white snake and saw it approach and enter its new host. Watching the whole process made her feel something that she had not felt for what seemed to be an eternity.

Fascination.

**(Oa, Guardian chambers of Ganthet)**

Ganthet sat in his chambers reading the reports he had received from both Kilowog and Laira about the recruits. More specifically Naruto Uzumaki. While doing so he had his blue lantern battery on the table next to him.

'Collecting dust as it were.' he thought to himself taking his mind off the recruit for a moment.

It felt so long ago now but in truth it was only had been a few years. It was before Sinestro's fall in fact.

Ganthet had long tried to explain to the rest of the council that willpower would not be enough to weather the coming storm. That's not to say that the Green Lantern Corps has not done well for the last few centuries. Quite the contrary in fact. However, given how now that there were now other corps of lanterns that had sprung from the others in the emotional spectrum, Ganthet felt that the Corps needed an edge. He pleaded with them to see that they also needed more. Will alone could not stem the tide alone.

For what was the point of willpower without hope? Hope represented something that will could fight for.

Unfortunately only Sayd seemed to see the benefit. The rest of the council, Appa especially, rejected this idea.

Ganthet however, was not deterred. Instead he had forged a prototype blue lantern battery, a small version like the ones the Green Lanterns used individually. When Ganthet was finished he tried to demonstrate its usefulness to the council but he was again denied and forced down by the council.

It was during the crisis with the Red Lanterns in frontier space that this came to a head. More specifically when the planet Betrassus Ganthet had, in his own admission, naively told Appa about his prototype being left on the Interceptor ship. In doing so he had indicated his own part in motivating Hal and Kilowog to steal the ship in the first place. Ganthet had been held in lock down and was about to be banished for what he had done.

Fortunately for him the blue battery managed to prove what he had been preaching to the council. During the battle on Betrassus, when all seemed lost and Queen Iolande was about to lose her planet to her brother and the Red Lanterns, the battery had activated and made the sky itself glow blue. Hal, Iolande, and Kilowog each received a massive power boost from it, defeated the Red Lanterns and sent their planet killer weapon known as the Liberator into space before it detonated.

For his part, Ganthet had been given a reprieve and Appa and the council had decreed that they would look into the matter more carefully. Officially anyway.

In truth, Ganthet was on probation and the blue lantern battery was essentially mothballed. Even with the successful salvation of Betrassus the Guardians still didn't want to admit that they were wrong and still felt that willpower alone would be enough.

Ganthet knew better. Unfortunately, aside from Sayd, to whom he will always be grateful for her support, he was the only one that knew that hope and will combined could do so much more then either one could to do alone. He already finished on designs for a main battery and already had two new power rings made.

One made to Saint Walker. The other he hoped had reached the intended bearer.

Regardless, he had made his decision to leave Oa and head out to create this new Corps when Tomar-Re's ring had chosen Naruto.

These thoughts brought him back to the report in his hand.

From Laira's report, Naruto was making amazing progress for one who had only arrived just a little over two weeks ago. Naruto took to the ring like no one they have seen before. It seemed he was born to wield it. Naruto already started using constructs that were related to the weapons he had used on his world. Calling his "unlimited ninja tool kit." as it were. On top of that Laira had trained him in using other weapons. Since he was trained in more close range weapons she was ideal to teach him in this manner.

He had already mastered the sword or kenjutsu as they both called it, from what the report said. She also included in her training staffs, scythes, and other such weapons that Laira knew he would be used to which he also grasped on. Although there had been times that Naruto used some Earth based weapon such as a shotgun against her shield when they sparred one time just to make sure to stay unpredictable. Regardless, Naruto had admitted feeling better using the constructs that fit both his and Laira's preferences over weapons that were more modern based.

The strange part came from when they were done the Ajnian would fly to Mogo who for some reason had stayed in Oa's orbit for longer then he normally did. Ganthet figured it was because Salaak could scan his surface and could not track any lanterns there. Mainly cause of the living planet's service as counselor to the Corps and requested privacy for those he saw.

'What could he be doing on Mogo?' Ganthet thought putting the report down on his desk. He assumed it had something to do with perhaps learning the jutsu that was in the scroll that he brought with him to from his homeworld. But then begs the question as to why he would choose to go somewhere more isolated and outside of Guardian control.

Something that Ganthet himself was going to seek before all of this happened.

'Regardless of what I had planned before I made a promise to Lady Tsunade to look after the boy.' That thought had brought a smile on his face. 'Ironic...we Guardians are supposed to be without emotion yet here I am having them.'

He teleported out of his room.

**(Hall of Great Service)**

It didn't take Ganthet long to find Salaak. Since Tomar-Re's passing, the only two places he stayed in were the Planetary Citadel or here in the Hall of Service.

He found him sitting in his chair hovering with his control panels. Salaak's ability to do multiple duties at once was one of the many reasons why he was chosen as Clarrisi which meant to be second in command of the Corps.

"Good evening Salaak." Ganthet greeted.

"Ganthet. Can I help you sir?" Salaak addressed turning from his computer screens to look at him directly.

"I was wondering if you could find recruit Naruto for me." said Ganthet.

"You can't find him telepathically?" he asked already going back to his computer to find the young recruit.

"No I can't seem to find him for some reason." said the Guardian which was the truth. Since Naruto arrived he had tried to, subtly, read his mind. Not to get info but to gauge him emotionally. For some reason however, he had not been able to. Almost as if his mind were shielded.

Yet another question mark in the case of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Checking...he's not in his quarters. Looks like he flew out again. His trail ends at Mogo. No surprise there he makes frequent trips to him since his training with Laira began." said the Clarrisi.

"Thank you Salaak that will be all." said Ganthet who then teleported out of the chamber as Salaak returned to his duties.

Ganthet teleported above Mogo, just outside of his atmosphere.

 _'Best to float down to his surface. No need to startle him or the boy.'_  Ganthet thought to himself. As he began his approach he noticed something happening on the planet below. It was a small, glowing green light.

That glow soon expanded and was so bright that Ganthet had to cover his eyes to protect his vision, but that wasn't all. He felt power like he had never had before. The closest equivalent to what he was feeling was what Hal and Kilowog described when the blue power battery had activated on Betrassus. The Guardian knew though that this was different.

One thing was certain though. It was not coming from Mogo.

Soon, after a few minutes, the light dissipated and Ganthet let his arms down once the light level was safe for his eyes. He descended to the living planet.

Something was going on. And he had a feeling Naruto was at the center of it.  
 **  
** **(Mogo, moments earlier.)**

Naruto was currently standing in ruined area on Mogo. There were cuts running along the ground, and trees that had been shredded in his little patch of the living planet. Already he could see Mogo's green tendrils of energy repairing the damage that Naruto had inflicted.

Even though Mogo said it was alright the young lantern recruit could not help but still feel a little guilty for causing so much destruction.

The training was mainly focused on his wind nature and the jutsu from the scroll from his inheritance listed. Since then he had learned or even mastered many wind style jutsu. Included were the Beast Wave Palm jutsu and its variants along with the Blades of Wind jutsu and the variants behind those. He started with this one first given that he had seen it before with Sora and aside from the Tornado Shield jutsu it was the easiest to perform. He also managed to refine the control of said jutsu so now he would only create those tornadoes that need to be made when the situation allowed for it.

From there it was a matter of learning the jutsu and then controlling it. Naruto soon found that wind was not only a powerful element but malleable. Each jutsu seemed designed to incorporate its versatility and power.

Hence this jutsu that he was making the hand signs for.

"Wind Style: Wind Dragon Jutsu!" he exclaimed finishing the hand signs. Seconds later the air shifted around in front of him and revealed a massive dragon made completely of wind. From there it leaped forward and smashed a row of forest in front of him before finally dissipating.

 **'That was the last jutsu in the scroll Kid. Seems like you got a handle on just about all of them.'**  said Kurama with approval.

 _'Yeah'_ though Naruto with some pride in the fact that he managed to learn them so quickly.  _'It's easy when you're used to having to train at such a quick pace...with shadow clones to help of course.'_

 **'Ah but you didn't to use them that much. Just on the bigger jutsu.'** Kurama commented.

Naruto nodded. As had become his custom he still used many shadow clones to help him with his training since as each disappeared, the knowledge of that clone passed on to him. What was interesting was how the ring did not appear on any of the clones. Mogo explained how the ring was a unique weapon that could not be copied like his shuriken or kunai from his ninja tool kit could be.

That was something he needed to think about when going into battles in the future.

_'Still would like to know about the other scroll though. Nothing wrong with adding to my arsenal even further.'_

**'All in good time. You know you need to discover you second change in chakra nature before you can do that.'** Kurama explained.

 _ **'Indeed young one. At the very least this will make your training schedule easier now that you have mastered the last wind technique of your world.**_ ' said Mogo.

"You sound a little happy when you say that." said Naruto out loud looking at the mass of destruction that his latest jutsu has done and seeing that the forest was already a quarter rebuilt. "Beginning to regret that offer you made now?"

 _ **'Perhaps...just a bit.'**_ Mogo admitted with a tone of humor in his voice.

Naruto smiled at that then thought back to his hands and clinched his hands. "If you want I could help with some of the damage." he said. Referring to the easy first aid jutsu that he learned from the medical scroll that Tsunade had slipped in.

' _ **That jutsu was meant for healing people Naruto. Not planets. Do not stress yourself over it please. I will be fine.'**_  Mogo responded.

'Besides we have other things to worry about.' said Kurama. Naruto knew what he was referring to. Now that he had mastered his wind jutsu it was time to test out his modes with the ring on.

"Okay. So I guess the first one would be Normal Sage mode. Kurama you sure you can handle channeling natural energy?" said the young man.

Naruto could already feel Kurama shifting in his mind. Getting into the mediation position needed in order to do what was needed.

 **'I know what to do Naruto. Let's do this thing already!'**  the fox exclaimed. They had both decided that when using normal Sage Mode Kurama would be the one using the stance instead of using shadow clones. Seeing as how he was in Naruto's head he learned the same technique as he did so it was simple enough.

Naruto just shrugged and closed his eyes. Soon enough he felt the natural energy merge with his chakra. Almost instantly he opened his eyes and was in Sage Mode. He could feel the appearance of his eyes shift with the dark orange pigmentation around his eyes and the eyes themselves taking on the appearance of a frog.

He did feel something different though. His eye color he knew instinctively were still green. Another was when he looked at his uniform. It appeared to be a slight glow around him while in Sage Mode. The mode also felt more powerful than it had in previous times before.  
 _  
_ _'What's happening?'_  he thought to himself as he felt this new upsurge of power.

 _ **'I am uncertain of this. But it appears that your chakra and the ring seem to have some kind symbiotic bond.'**_ said Mogo.

Looking down at his right hand Naruto could see the ring glowing brighter than the rest of the suit.

"What does this mean then?" he asked.  
 _ **  
**_ _ **'I am not sure young one. But if I had to guess then the ring's power and your chakra have become linked in some way. This Sage Mode as you call it not only enhances your power but the ring as well. In theory at least.' s**_ aid the living planet.

 **'Only one way to find out.'** said Kurama sitting still in his position. Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Sorry Mogo!" he called out in advance.

He then pointed his ring at the part of the forest that Mogo wasn't regenerating and fired and energy beam. The beam was at least twice the size of the one he fired at the practice dummy. It leveled most of the area behind it.

"Wow!" Naruto said looking down at his glowing ring. Confirming that the ring and most likely the constructs he made with it would be enhanced the young ninja decided to move towards himself a bit. He then started to fall into the movements of the Frog Kata that he learned from Fukasaku. Moving into the punches and kicks he could feel that the movement felt faster than they had before while in Sage Mode without the ring.

The main difference was when he punched a tree that was at least ten meters ahead of him and destroyed it utterly. Looking down at his first he realized that not only was it more powerful than before but the range of the attack had also increased. He then spun around doing a roundhouse kick and the sent several trees around him flying into the air.

"This is amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in excitement.

 **'Indeed. If this is what it's like in Sage Mode what it's like in the others?** ' said Kurama.

"We'll just have to find out then. But first I wanna try one more thing." said Naruto. He then started channeling chakra into his fist while in Sage Mode. He then jumped into the air and smashed the ground beneath him. The force of the punch cause a large crater to from beneath him. From what he saw it was five time the size of the one that Sakura or even Tsunade did when they used the same technique.

"Well...that answers that." said Naruto as he disengaged Normal Sage Mode. Strangely he felt only slightly fatigued. Unusual given that he usually felt exhausted afterwards.

 **'Yes it does. Looks like you learned that ability well. But I thought the scroll only included the medical jutsu?** ' Kurama commented as he moved out of his meditation stance.  
 _  
_ _'It does. But seeing both her and Sakura do it was enough for me to learn how to use it. Its actually simple. Both techniques are used by channeling chakra into the hands. And since my chakra control has never been better thanks to you and I seem to have a knack for chakra manipulation it was easy to put into use.'_ Naruto explained in his head.  _'Besides you saw me use it plenty of times during the war.'_

' True enough. And add to the nature energy you get from Sage Mode you become stronger then both of them combined! Stronger even that when you add the ring enhancing it! Ohhh I like the way you think sometimes Naruto.' said Kurama with a heavy amount of pride for his jinchuuriki.

Naruto smiled at that.  _'Thanks. It probably goes even higher when we use the other modes as well.'_

 **'Speaking of which shall we get back to business?'** the tailed beast asked.

 _ **'Before you do Naruto there is something that I must point out.'**_  said Mogo gaining both Naruto's and Kurama's attention.  _ **'As I said before I can mask your ring signature from Salaak while you are on my surface. However, that only applies if ring levels are maintained at somewhat normal levels.'**_ __ **  
**  
"Meaning what?" Naruto asked although he already had a feeling of where this was going.

 _ **'Meaning that I managed to hide your signature while in Sage Mode. But if what you and Kurama are hinting that these other modes you have can go higher than that then I may have difficulty shielding it from the Corps. This is not me trying to stop you. I only inform you of the risks involved.'**_ Mogo explained.

Naruto nodded. "I understand Mogo but we need to know now. Right now I don't see anything up ring wise after my Sage Mode transformation but I have to know if there are any other drawbacks. Could you let us know if we go past the breaking point?"

 _ **'Very well. If I sense that you will be detected I will inform you immediately.'**_ Mogo agreed.

 **'Well with that said can we continue now?'**  said Kurama with a little too much glee upon hearing what Mogo said which made the young recruit a little nervous. He shrugged it off though and they went on with the test.

Unlike with Sage Mode there was no need for either Kurama or Naruto to stand still or anything. Naruto just closed his eyes and activated his Nine-Tailed Chakra Mode.

Immediately the ring glowed once again even brighter than before. Almost instantly, Naruto could feel the change happen as he opened his eyes. Like with Sage Mode Naruto could feel to have even more power than he did before. Looking at himself he was again in cased in his chakra shroud. However, instead of it being colored in yellow flames like normal it was instead green flames that he was in.

Another thing that was different was that instead of the symbols of his clan on his shoulders and mid-section were the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps on them. Finally, his eyes remained green.

Naruto clinched his right hand into a fist, noting the glowing power ring on his hand, and slammed it into his left palm. The force sent a small shock wave and he could hear the sound of the impact.

"Amazing." he muttered to himself. Feeling the power he had almost made him euphoric.

 **'Yeah and it isn't just you. I'm feeling it as well. Almost as if the ring is giving you and me a power boost and vice versa.'** said Kurama. He also looked down at himself in Naruto's mind.  **'Gah! What the hell!?'** ****  
  
 _'What's wrong?'_ Naruto asked.

 **'You aren't the only one turning green here Kid! I am glowing green to in here!'**  the tailed beast exclaimed.

Naruto had to bite back a laugh about that but Kurama still heard it.

 **'This isn't funny!'**  he said. Naruto managed to stifle his laugh and looked to his ring.

"Ring what's the current power level that you have at the moment?" Naruto asked the weapon in his hand.

 _"Power levels currently holding at four hundred percent."_  the ring told him.

 **'Which make the previous levels in Sage Mode lower than that.'**  said Kurama.  **'I don't know Kid. It might not be a good idea to try anything with us in this mode. I mean we have kind of a clear idea of what the ring is doing to us and we don't want to risk harming Mogo with our level of power now or in tailed beast mode. Or heaven forbid you start using the old mans senjutsu of the six paths.'** ****  
  
 _'Yeah your right. A beam from the ring in this form could destroy a lot more than just the area around us never mind any constructs.'_  the young ninja said.  _'In that case let's take it up a notch to Tailed Beast Mode and call it a night.'_

Agreeing with his partner Naruto once again channeled their chakra together just as they have always done during the war. Only now, Kurama was complete and whole again with both the yin and yang halves of his chakra. Even without the ring Naruto could already feel even more powerful they he was during the war. The ring amplified it even more.

So when turning to Tailed Beast Beast mode he felt that power grow so much he feared he might explode from the amount.

"AHHHHH HA HA HA!" he screamed at first in panic before laughing at the exultation he felt when the transformation completed. Looking down he saw how his form once again was different than before.

Unlike without the ring the shroud he was in did not produce a cloak this time. Instead the shroud surrounded his uniform with the same numerous swirl patterns that now turned into complete circles. The front of his uniform had the symbol of the Green Lanterns on it while turning into a dark green with three magatama on his collar.

Naruto stood there reveling in the power he felt.

 _"Ring power levels are at one thousand percent. Energy levels far above standard levels."_  said the ring that was glowing even brighter than before.

"Understatement of the year." said the young recruit.

 **'I don't know about you Kid but judging from the amount of power you now have while were in this form it would be best to use it in dire emergencies. Especially, as I mentioned before, the Six Paths Mode. That one you should only use if the shit really hits the fan.'** said Kurama.

_'No kidding. I'm starting to think-'_

_**'Naruto!**_ ' Mogo said interrupting his train of thought.  _ **'Stop what you are doing now! As I was afraid of the amount of power you are now putting off with your ring has reached to a point where I am unsure if I can contain your ring signature. You must transform back now!'**_ __ **  
**  
As quickly as he said it Naruto immediately transformed back to normal. However, as he did he sensed something was above the living planet's atmosphere looking down. Among everything else the ring had also enhanced his sensing abilities.

Naruto immediately went into the forest to hide.

 _ **'I believe you managed to change back before Salaak got a fix on your ring signature.'**_ Mogo reported.  _ **'However, it appears one of the Guardians was already on his way here and saw your display from above me. Fortunately, it's Ganthet and none of the others seem to have noticed.'**_

Naruto nodded in response. "Ring how much energy do I have left?"

"Ring power levels have returned to normal levels. Energy capacity at ninety five percent." said the AI.

"Huh? Thought it would be lower from all those transformations. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth though." said Naruto as he used the ring on himself.

For his part Ganthet had managed to figure out where Naruto had been around on Mogo judging from the repairs that he was making on some of the areas where he had been damaged. From the look of the area it seemed that the trees had been cut down and the ground had slash marks.

"Good afternoon Mogo." said Ganthet pleasantly.

 _ **'Hello Ganthet. How may I be of assistance?'**_ said Mogo.

"I was wondering if you knew where Naruto was on your surface? Judging from the damage that you have suffered I take it your time with him has been more then to help with any psychological issues. Am I correct?" Ganthet inquired.

_**'Indeed. The boy was and still is reluctant to use me but he needed somewhere private to practice and learn the jutsu that he brought with him from his home world.'** _

Ganthet nodded. Of course he would. And both he and Mogo knew that even though Ganthet himself would be alright with it the rest of the council might not be so lenient towards this activity.

Ganthet then started looking around to see if he could find the young recruit. Though he could not read his mind, one of the many things he is hoping to find out today, he could sense that he was still here. In fact he was still here.

"Mogo do you know where on your surface Naruto happens to be at the moment?" he asked.

 _ **'He is closer than you might think.'**_ said Mogo cryptically.

"Could you be more specific?" Ganthet questioned.

"Behind you actually." said Naruto's voice. Ganthet immediately turned around but found nothing there.

That is until the boy just appeared into existence right in front of him.

Ganthet was at first shocked at how he managed to do that until he looked to see his ring glowing.

"You managed to use the ring to refract the light around you making yourself invisible." he said. "And advanced technique. Most lanterns don't even know about that ability."

"Yeah. That's how I managed to get in front of Laira-Sensei to use that shotgun to shatter her shield. Although I had thought of using senbon instead of bullets." said Naruto. "But I get the feeling you're not here to talk about my training with Laira."

"No I'm not." said Ganthet floating down to the ground to sit down. Naruto did the same crossing his legs on the ground to sit as well.

"So what do you want to talk about sir?" he asked.

"Naruto when it's just you and me just call me Ganthet. I know how the most of the Corps look at the council. Rest assured that I am not a, as would Hal Jordan call them, sticks in the mud." said Ganthet with a friendly smile. "I made a promise to Tsunade."

"What kind of promise?" Naruto asked.

"Just to make sure that you are prepared for what is to come when you become a Green Lantern in full." Ganthet responded.

"I like to think I'm doing fine on that front." said Naruto.

"Indeed. I read the reports from both Laira and Kilowog. Your progress is amazing to say the least. You're doing in weeks what many others cannot do until they become full Lanterns themselves. It is only a matter of time." the Guardian explained.

"I like to think Arisia and the others are making progress as well." said Naruto mentioning the new friends that he made here.

"You would be correct. In fact I dare say that you may have inspired them to push themselves harder on your account. Their time is drawing near as well for the final test." said Ganthet. He looked to see that Naruto had a small smile when he heard that though it seemed dejected.

"In any case there are things that you do need to learn. As I explained to Tsunade your race is new to the galactic scene since you just now know that you are not alone in the universe. Therefore it is my obligation to teach on at least some of the races that you will be working with and protecting in your sector." Ganthet explained.

"Don't take this the wrong way Ganthet but I don't seem to recall you giving this additional training to Hal or John when they first arrived. And humans are almost as unaware of what goes on in space as my people." said Naruto.

"Yes but they are approaching it. They have achieved limited space travel and are aware of sentient life forms beyond their own as you well know from the database. You and your species on the other hand have only now just become aware. Granted you have handled better than the humans but I hope you can see the issue here." explained the Guardian.

Naruto nodded in understanding of this even if a part of him disagreed.

"So what kind of training will you be providing then?" he asked getting back on topic.

"Your database allows you to access the basic information of every race that is the Guardian database. However, they do not tell you how each government works on each individual world. It is here that I wish to show and teach you so that you may be able to handle situations that will allow to hopefully limit the use of your ring and other powers. In other words stop a battle, possibly a war, without firing a shot." said Ganthet.

"In other words the art of diplomacy." said Naruto in almost bored tone. "Ganthet if you what you say is true and that me being a Lantern is close at hand I don't see how we are gonna find time to do this."

"Normally you would be correct. There is a faster way however." Ganthet responded.

"And what would that be?" said Naruto cautiously.

"My race has many abilities Naruto. One of them is telepathy on a very high scale. The way I suggest to teach you would be to enter your mind. The training inside the mind-scape is much faster than here in real time." he explained.

"But then couldn't you find out stuff about me? Say things I didn't want to know?" Naruto asked already becoming wary of it.

"I assure you young man I have no intention whatsoever of invading your privacy. Your mind is still your own. If you wish to show me anything about yourself it would be of your own volition and I would not disobey it." the Guardian responded.

'Except that isn't what I'm worried about. Thanks to you Kurama we can keep him out but if he enters my mind there's no way I can hide you.' thought Naruto talking to his partner in his head. Mind made up he went to politely refuse Ganthet's offer but his furry friend decided to put his two cents in.

 **'Naruto I think you should take him up on his offer.'**  said Kurama.

 _'What!?'_ Naruto responded surprised at what Kurama just said.

 **'Think about it. The dictionary has much in the way of facts and places but does absolutely nothing in terms of learning the politics of said races. And since your progress is going quickly the soon we get it done the better. As for him discovering me we both knew sooner or later that someone in the Corps, a Guardian I might add, would find out. Might as well be him.'** he explained.

 _'I don't know Kurama. What if he tells the council?'_ Naruto questioned while Ganthet sat in front of him waiting for his answer.

 **'You used to see a little good in everyone Naruto. Why can't you see it him now?'**  the tailed beast questioned.

Naruto realized then that Kurama was right. Hal had spoken of Ganthet with great respect and after talking with him on the way to Oa he knew that he was an old but kind soul.

He made his decision.

"I accept your offer then Ganthet. When can we start?" said Naruto.

"Now if you would like." said Ganthet pleased that Naruto had agreed.

"Very well. But I do need to warn you. My mind is not exactly safe." the young recruit warned.

"I will be prepared Naruto do not worry." said Ganthet in almost a grandfather like tone.

"We'll see." said Naruto

"In that case just close your eyes." Naruto did as he was told. From there the Guardian had closed his own eyes as he entered Naruto's mind.

**(Naruto's mind-scape)**

When Ganthet opens his eyes the first thing he notices is that his robes, particularly the area of his legs, had gotten wet. Looking down he found himself sitting on water. Standing up quickly he found himself in what appeared to be a large sewer tunnel.

"Naruto!" he called out trying to find him in the landscape as his voice echoed throughout the tunnel. At first he heard no response. That is until he heard, or rather felt, a large tremor that shook the entire area. There was another after that that was even bigger. And another. And another.

'Something's headed my way.' he thought to himself realizing that these tremors were in fact footsteps.  
 **  
** **"Indeed. Something is."**  said a growling voice in the darkness ahead reading his mind.  **"Ironic to be trying to have private thoughts in someone else's mind."**

Ganthet stood his ground as whatever that was in this boy mind. But even he felt a twinge of fear when he saw the thing that was here come out from the darkness.

This creature was in the shape of a large red fox with red-orange fur with red slitted eyes. Interestingly, its upper body appeared humanoid with its front legs having apposing thumbs. However, what made it strike out was the nine tails that it possessed.

Seeing those tails and the creature itself Ganthet quickly realized what and who this creature is.

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune." he said.

 **"Correct."**  said the tailed beast with a wide toothy grin.

Ganthet's hands glowed as he prepared to fight.

"I thought we agreed we were done using this place." said the voice of Naruto who also came out of the same tunnel.  
 **  
** **"What? I thought it was a good place to get a scare out of him." s** aid Kurama as he stopped his menacing act to look at Naruto.

"Why do you need to scare him at all? I thought you said it was okay to let him in on our little secret?" Naruto asked.

 **"I did but I wanted to make sure. Seeing as he was willing to stand up to me proved that at least he isn't a wimp."**  said the beast.

"But still did have to be here in this tunnel again?" said Naruto. "Couldn't we have tried something else?"

"Um...excuse me?" said Ganthet with his hands no longer glowing and having a look of confusion. "Could someone please explain to me what is going on?"

"Ah." said Naruto sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry Ganthet. I didn't get to introduce you. This is my partner Kurama. The tailed beast you know as the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Partner?" Ganthet questioned. "Naruto forgive me but how can such a being be inside your head? How is that even possible?"

 **"Tsunade did not tell you about the jinchuuriki?"**  Kurama asked.

"Jinchuuriki? No that word never came up during my conversation with her. She did inform me about the incident involving you but that was it." said Ganthet.

 **"Hmph figures. Being a Kage she must have wanted you tell him about that part Naruto. Given that you happen to be an "expert" on the subject." s** aid Kurama

"Yeah and it is still standard policy to keep that kind of info from outsiders." said Naruto. "Okay Ganthet you said that since this is still my mind I could show info basically on my own terms right?"

The Guardian nodded.

"Then examine my memories then. Nether me nor Kurama will stop you." he said.

"Why?" Ganthet asked.

"We gotta trust someone on the council. Frankly from what both he and I have seen you're the only Guardian that doesn't seem to have an agenda. At least not against me." said Naruto

"You seem awfully quick to trust me Naruto. How do you know that I don't?" asked Ganthet surprised how much trust both him and the tailed beast had shown.

 **"Because I told him. And also Naruto, for the most part, happens to be a good judge of character and can be more observant then most people give him credit for."** said Kurama.

"Thanks...I think." said Naruto.

For his part Ganthet had to admit that he was curious as to what he would find in the boy's memories. So given that and the fact that somehow the most powerful of the tailed beast just happens to be inside his mind he decided to take a leap of faith.

"Very well." said Ganthet.

Almost exactly as he said it the Guardian suddenly got a flash forward of information in his mind. Like one of those movies that humans watched only in faster motion. Even so Ganthet's mind was able to process it.

The memories he saw started from Naruto's childhood, to his time in the ninja academy, to finding out that he was a jinchuuriki. Thus in turn finding out the reason why Kurama was put it in the first place. From there his adventures with Team Seven up until Sasuke Uchiha's defection. The two in half training with his godfather Jiraiya. The battles with the Akatsuki. His fight with Pain also known as Nagato. His reunion with Sasuke which then lead to his involvement with the Fourth Great Ninja War and helping to turn the tide.

The visions then turned to his confrontations with Obito Uchiha and the man he was pretending to be. Naruto and Sasuke standing side by side to face Madara Uchiha. From there the war finally reached his end with Naruto and Sasuke sealing Kaguya back into her prison.

The visions stopped the instant it showed Naruto and Sasuke standing on a river.

"That's enough for now." said Naruto looking directly into Ganthet's eyes with a sad look. "That last one is still raw for me. Though I am better than I was. Suffice it to say that should give you all you need about me."

"Yes it was." said Ganthet. "You haven't had the easiest of lives have you Naruto Uzumaki?"

"No. But its had its moments." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

"And its share of triumphs. One of those being the renewed friendship with your partner." said the Guardian turning to the tailed beast. He then floated up and bowed his head.

"I acknowledge you Kurama as a fully sentient being. And I realized the amount of trust that both you and Naruto have shown to me and the initial risk that it you considered before making this decision. Rest assured it will not be put at risk on my part." the Guardian vowed.

"We appreciate it Ganthet." said Naruto. Kurama nodding in agreement.

 **"Now I believe you were to teach the Kid here about the subtleties of politics across this new universe that we have just entered to?** " questioned Kurama.

"Ah yes I did." said Ganthet getting back on the reason for this mental visit. "But is it possible that we could have more pleasant surroundings? I don't mean to tell you how do use your mind-scape but this dank dark tunnel would not be my first choice."

"Yeah sorry. Kurama's idea to bring this back this one time." said Naruto.

Just as he said it that tunnel soon changed to an open field. The same one that Naruto and Kurama when they now wanted to talk face to face.

"You should be aware young one that it is rare for me to find someone outside my brethren with a mental land-scape as well developed as your own." said Ganthet in awe of how it changed so seamlessly.

"Must be another benefit of being a jinchuuriki." said Naruto which gave Kurama a small smile.

"Indeed." said Ganthet turning to face him. "Now Naruto despite what Kurama said I do not wish to teach you just the politics of each world but of the people and the governments themselves. Teach you what to expect and how best to approach a situation to them. Though how you handle it out there in your sector is and should be up to you my fellow Guardians can and will scrutinize you and your work."

"I understand." said Naruto.

"While we have these lessons I shall make sure that I have your undivided attention. As I saw through your memories you have had a habit of sleeping through class in school. It will not happen here." said Ganthet sternly.

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head blushing in embarrassment with Kurama trying to stifle his laughter.

"On that note let's begin." said the Guardian pulling up an image of a world. "We will start with the planet Rimbor..."

From there that was the schedule that followed in the weeks that came. Naruto would first train with Laira into the late afternoon. From there Naruto continued to increase his weapon proficiency. To his continued surprise he found himself having a knack for Kenjutsu and not just with the ninjato. When it came to swords though he still preferred one handed to one in half hand swords. Ones he could use easily. He also mastered some pole arms and of course added the usual weapons from his ninja days.

Laira had also taken it to improve on his hand to hand by showing where in the body would be best to attack from and to watch an opponent for any physical weakness and to exploit. She also told him to see Doctor Natu on where other specie's weaknesses were. From there Naruto knew not only how to attack but where to attack if need be.

Hence why it seemed Kilowog wished to keep from fighting the boy again anytime soon.

After that he would go back to Mogo to continue refining his wind jutsu but mainly he went there when Ganthet had time to teach his lessons on the universe at large.

As for his little experiment with his Modes after he and Ganthet returned to Oa Salaak had come to both of them and asked what happened. Apparently, the energy inside Naruto's ring had spiked immensely for a brief second before dissipating.

Ganthet had said that he was working on his blue battery and had asked Naruto to help. Salaak believed him or at least appeared to. Naruto wanted to ask about this blue battery but decided to table it for now.

After all we all had our secrets.

As far as Naruto's fellow recruits were concerned they were also progressing well. Each time at lunch they all seem to gather around talking. The other veteran lanterns could not help but notice how they seemed to look to him as a leader. Kilowog even noted how they seem to perform better because they knew he had their backs.

For his part Naruto didn't seem to notice. Or pretended not to.

After weeks of training both Kilowog and Laira decided it was time for their final test in the Hazard Simulation Facility. Basically they were each going to be in a simulation of the planets they were on when they first arrived. The two major corrections in this were that it was not life threatening and they could use their rings.

Suffice it to say they all passed and now were in the main battery room.

The four soon to be lanterns stood in front of the massive battery to which Naruto could not help but be in awe of.

"Alright poozers. Gotta say that you lot were some of the best recruits me and Laira have had in some time. But like everything else this stage of you career is now over. From this day forth you will officially part of the Green Lantern Corps. Wear your circle fills with our symbol wear it with pride." said Kilowog. Naruto could not help but see a look of pride in his eyes when he said those words.

With that same pride on her face Laira took over. "Speak the oath to the main battery. From there your will receive your mark and join our Corps officially with all the rights, privileges and responsibility that comes with being a Green Lantern."

They each stepped forward, raised their ring hands, and with one voice said the oath.

_**"In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,** _

_**No evil shall escape my sight.** _

_**Let those who worship evil's might** _

_**Beware my power Green Lantern's Light!"** _

The main battery glowed brighter and tendrils of energy came and went into their rings. Whatever energy they lost was restored and they found that the white circle they bore were filled with mark of the Green Lantern Corps.  
 _ **  
**_ _ **'Welcome.'**_ said a deep voice telepathically which startled Naruto. He looked to the others and it seemed he was the only one who heard it.

 _'Kurama was that Mogo just now?'_  he asked.

 **'No Kid that wasn't him. Hard as it is to believe it sounded like it came from the battery.'** he said.

Naruto nodded. He could feel the presence of something inside the battery. It was similar to how Kurama was inside him which was probably why he was the only one who heard the voice. The difference was that whatever was inside felt larger and stronger than even his partner. And he knew that it was much, much older than him as well.

But despite this as he felt the process being finished he knew that there was no danger. In fact the entity gave a sense of welcoming that seems infectious to his friends even though they didn't know it.

 **'Looks like the battery is hiding something as well.'**  he thought to himself.

"Naruto!" yelled Arisia as she approached him snapping him out of his thoughts. "C'mon we're having a celebration before we have to start our duties tomorrow."

"Right behind you guys." he said. As he left he looked back at the battery.

One more mystery to solve.

After the celebration it was getting late so they all went back to their quarters. Though they had to carry Galius back to his because he drank too much.

Naruto then created and mirror construct to look himself over. Looking at his chest and seeing the symbol that was now on his chest gave him a large sense of pride. But as he looked over his uniform he frowned.

 **'What wrong? Outfit too tight?'**  asked Kurama.

 _'No.'_ Naruto responded with a roll of his eyes.  _'The uniform fits perfectly you know that. No...It's too generic. I mean besides the gloves and boots it looks exactly like Hal's.'_ __  
  
 **'Well you know that the suit is made of the same energy as the constructs so why not change it to something more your style.'** Kurama responded.

Naruto nodded. In fact he had something in mind. Suddenly he focused his ring and made his new uniform before going to bed for the start of his new duties.

**(The next day)**

Kilowog was sitting in in the Dining Hall eating his food looking over the report for the next batch of recruits. As he looked at them he couldn't help but rub his stomach at what one of the last batch of recruits did to him.

'Hope that never happens again.' he thought to himself.

"Kilowog you there?" he heard Hals voice from the ring. Kilowog rolled his eyes, put down the report and answered.

"I'm here Jordan what is it?"

"Meet me in the Planetary Citadel."

"What's going on?" he asked already getting up knowing going to the council chamber means serious business.

"Razer's back." said Hal.

Kilowog's eyes widened in surprise and immediately stormed out of the Dining Hall.

**(Planetary Citadel)**

Kilowog flew through the gate into the chamber. There he found the council in session as always with Hal Jordan and Salaak at the center typing on his moving station as usual. Also there in the center was an old friend of his and Jordan's

"Razer!" he exclaimed grabbing him into a hug.

"Hello Kilowog." he wheezed out while getting him in his own embrace. As Kilowog let him go both he and Jordan noticed the new look that Razer had acquired. Or actually the new color.

His uniform was still the same as it was when he left Oa to find Aya. The artificially created being that used to be inside their former ship the Interceptor who then became at one time a threat to the entire universe and the love of Razer's life. Only instead of it being in red he was in blue and black version of it with the symbol of the Blue Lanterns on his chest instead of that of the Red Lanterns.

"Nice colors kid. But I thought the whole blue lantern thing was on hold." said Kilowog.

"As did we." said Appa looking at Ganthet with suspicion.

"Before that happened I managed to create two power rings as a sort of "test drive" and Hal Jordan would put into words. I wanted to make sure that it works." he said.

"We will discuss it later." said Ranakar. "Tell me Razer." he said turning to the now blue lantern. "The last time we had heard or seen of you, you went into deep space looking for whatever remained of Aya. The entity that nearly destroyed all of us. Tell me. Did you search find anything conclusive to your search?"

Razer turned to face the council.

"My quest to find her-"

"It you mean." Appa interrupted.

"My quest to find her." he said again but glaring at the Guardian "Was and still is a personal mission of mine. And since I have no association with the Green Lantern Corps I don't have any reason to answer that question. Nor is that the reason I have come now."

"Which is what exactly?" said Sayd before Appa could go on another of his tirades.

Using his ring he projected of an image in blue of a female Green Lantern. They it was one of them by the symbol on her uniform. From what they could tell of the image she had curly hair and blue skin.

Everyone in the room knew who it was though.

"That is Tomy-Fai. Green Lantern of 0056." said Salaak. "She has been listed missing for the last six months. We would have presumed her dead had it not been the fact that her ring had not returned to Oa or found a new host."

"Indeed. Until now." said Razer. He then projected a large floating fortress with a futuristic castle in the center of it. On the front of it was the Sinestro Corps symbol. "This is where she is being held. It's a fort somewhere in the near in the Ariel system circulating around Beltair IV. We believe this to be used some sort of station but now it has been re purposed by Sinestro's people as base. This station like the rest of them fall in and out of the Anti-Matter Universe."

"Who is we exactly?" asked Appa.

"Saint Walker and I occasionally work with the Star Sapphires from time to time. It was them who tipped us off." said Razer.

"If what you say is true then why didn't they communicate with us directly? We have a treaty with them last I believed." Appa responded.

"This matters how exactly!?" said Hal before Razer could answer. "What we do know is that one our own is stuck in enemy prison for God knows how long? We need to move now!"

"I agree with you Hal but take a look at that place. It's a stinkin fortress capable of housing at least fifty to two hundred Lanterns. We would need at least that many to storm it and even then they could move it back to the Anti-Matter land anytime they want." said Kilowog.

"If we are to save her then we would have to sneak in and rescue her." said Razer.

"Fine then let's go then." said Hal.

"Green Lantern of Sector 2814!" ordered Appa. "You have not been given permission to leave this council chambers."

"Appa with all due respect the more time we waste the chances for Tomy-Fai's survival lessens. We must act now." said Ganthet.

"The council will make its decision as one before we send Lanterns on a mission Ganthet. You know this." said one of the fellow Guardians. Ganthet was forced into silence.

"Clarrisi." said Appa referring to Salaak by his rank. "Isn't Beltair IV in sector 2813?"

"Indeed it is." said Salaak. He then realized what he meant. "You can't mean-"

"I do Clarrisi." said Appa with a small smile on his face.

"I don't understand the problem. If you wish to bring Tomar-Re then he would only strengthen our cause." said Razer.

"Tomar-Re is dead kid. Has been for a few weeks." said Kilowog.

Eyes widened Razer then realized how out of touch since his journey began. "I see. So how long has his replacement been a Lantern?"

"He just finished his training. He's supposed to start today with his first patrol." said Hal.

Outraged Razer turned to the council.

"You would send us a Lantern who has barely come out of Kilowog's training to help in a mission that requires stealth and precision not to mention if need be heavy combat if we get Tomy-Fai out alive!? You would give us a rookie to save one of your own!?"

"Correction. We would give him to you renegade. Hal Jordan and Kilowog will not accompany you for this mission." said Appa.

Both Hal and Kilowog were aghast at this declaration.

"Are You Serious!?" Kilowog yelled.

"Appa this is highly unusual. A mission such as this requires as much assistance as we can give." said Sayd. She and Ganthet, as well as some of the other Guardians, also spoke in turn until Appa raised his hand to stop the arguing.

"As I understand the new Green Lantern of Sector 2813 has shown skill while in training and I understand that his species happen to specialize in stealth missions given their profession do they not?" he said "Furthermore, the more numbers there are in this mission the less chance for success is there not?"

Neither of the three of them could offer a rebuttal on that. Nor could any of the council.

"Then it is settled then."

"Appa please-" Ganthet tried to speak.

"Enough! The council has decided. Razer will be assigned the Green Lantern of that sector to assist him and that's it." he then looked to Salaak. "Summon him Clarrisi." he ordered.

"Yes sir." he grumbled and started sending the communication.

"Let me save you the trouble Salaak." said a voice. They looked around but could find no one. Ganthet however was now the one smiling.

Then they saw Naruto walk forth uncrossing his arms appearing out of nowhere once again using the rings cloaking ability.

Only he was now in a new uniform of his own design. It was more like lighter version of the armor that he saw the samurai of his home world use only much lighter so he could move around easily. It had a front chest piece with shoulder pads on it with still black on the insides of it. His gloves covered his wrist and hands with vambraces that extended to the back of his hands. In addition his boots now reached his shins with shin guards that reached down to cover the top of his feet. On his legs there were knee pads that looked just as much for offense as well as defense.

The Green Lantern symbol had been changed. Instead of a white circle with the symbol on it was now a black circle with the symbol outlined in white. Finally, Naruto now had a green headband on his head and wore a face mask that covered the bottom half of his face including his nose.

"2813 what is the meaning of this? You were not authorized to be here!" Appa exclaimed.

"Excuse me but were you not about to order me to come into the citadel in the first place?" asked Naruto. When Appa could not come up with an answer Naruto continued. "That was rhetorical by the way. To answer the other question as to why I'm here I was about to head to my first patrol when I saw Kilowog coming here so urgent that he left his meal. Now it had to be important if he would leave his meal unfinished that much is certain."

Kilowog gave him a slight glare at that crack but Razer actually smiled.

"You would be correct. That is the only thing that takes him away from a meal."

Naruto then held out his hand. "Naruto Uzumaki. Green Lantern of Sector 2813 at your service."

Razer took the hand and shook it.

"Naruto are you sure you're ready for this?" asked Ganthet.

"That sector is my turf. Plus one of us is in trouble on said turf. Do you even have to ask?" said Naruto.

Ganthet just smiled and shook his head. Naruto then had one more question.

"What's the plan?"

**(Orbit of Beltair IV)**

Naruto and Razer flew towards the planet. They had been silent throughout the trip though sharing a few words now and again.

"From what I heard you were a renegade Red." said Naruto.

"I was. Early in my search the second ring of Ganthet's attempt to form a new corps had chosen me. It represents the color of blue which represents hope." Razer explained.

"I didn't even know there was a corps for hope." said Naruto.

"Technically there isn't, it's just Saint-Walker and myself that make up the number." said Razer. "So I take it you know of the Emotional Spectrum then."

"Yeah Ganthet told me about it." said Naruto remembering his lessons from the wise Guardian.

Still he wanted to ask about this blue lanterns and why there were only two so far but decided to table that for another day.

"Aren't you going to ask why the blue ring chose me?" Razer asked.

"I was in the chamber remember. I know why." said Naruto. "As far as if I'm going to ask whether or not you found Aya or not the answer is I'm not going to ask. That's your business not mine despite what some of the Guardians might say."

Razer looked at him surprise and relief when he said that. "Thank you." he said.

Naruto nodded. They then spent the rest of the journey in silence.

As they got closer the young lantern could see why this planet's orbit could be used as a base. The planet was surrounded by a whole ring of asteroids. From there it was easy to hide such a thing. They had managed to hide behind one of the asteroids with both Naruto and Razer using binocular constructs to look at the base.

"Your image of it didn't do it justice. We got sentries just about everywhere looking out. Most especially on the twenty feet wall they built for themselves." said Naruto looking at the high walls were guards patrolled the area. Around it seemed to be a field of some kind. He scanned with his ring that found that it was actually a stasis field to give the asteroid its own artificial environment meaning there was air that they could breathe. He could also see that there were yellow Lanterns stationed inside.

"When they have enough numbers this outpost will be used to attack and subvert all the planets in this sector. Its design is the first step in taking sectors from the Guardians and getting a foothold here." said Razer.

"I thought they did that already when they made their deal with the Khundians." said Naruto.

"Sort of. Theirs is more of a lucrative deal. The Sinestro Corps helps them conquer new worlds and in return they get credits and resources. Sinestro and his minions are still mercenaries though I know he has plans beyond being just for hire." said Razer. "This base was only made recently. You can't tell especially in the keep itself has not been fully completed. My guess they built it shortly after your predecessor died."

Naruto nodded and looked back to the base. He then saw something of interest. He saw what looked to be a large tower that had no windows on it on the west side of the base. It was the only one that didn't have windows in the entire fortress.

"There." he pointed. "That has to be where they keep the prisoners."

"Yes but the problem then becomes how to get inside it." said Razer.

Naruto looked it over to find something they could use. He then looked at the bottom of the asteroid that the base was sitting on and found several vents big enough for one person to crawl through.

Razer followed his line of sight and immediately the two realized what they needed to do.

As if reading each others minds they flew low as to not be detected by an early warning system that they may or may not have established, and managed to crawl through the vents though they had to keep their shields on because it looked like some of the vents had not been fully made yet.

"Whoever runs this place is not doing a good job with the scheduling of construction. This place is half finished." said Naruto.

"Hence why we can move like this." Razer responded in a matter of fact tone.

"Not to mention the fact that they left these vents big enough for people to crawl through." Naruto commented.

"Actually you will find that happens very often in this universe that everyone has buildings that have vents this size." said Razer.

That made Naruto stop right then and there.

"My world doesn't have this issue as far as I know." he said.

Razer just stood there with a roll in his eyes as they continued moving. "Then you should be glad that your race happens to be one of the very few that does not have this easy of a security breach."

"But why do so many races have these in their buildings?" Naruto asked. Now the blue lantern stopped for a moment to think on it.

" A valid question." he said. They both shrugged and got back to the task at hand.

Razer who was in front put a hand out and told them to stop. He then pointed downward and Naruto then nodded knowing that they had reached where they kept the prisoners.

"We are above the cell entrance. That is where they are keeping her." said Razer.

When they looked into the vent they saw only two guards there. From there they waited until their backs were turned, counted to three, then broke the vent and Naruto and Razer knocking them out. Naruto put his guard in a sleeper hold cutting off his oxygen while Razer just punched his guard's lights out.

Both of them laid the guards against the wall. Naruto then looked to Razer.

"We need to hurry. I don't think there anyone else in this hall way but who knows how long that will last." he said.

Razer nodded and looked to open the cell and found a problem.

"The damn thing needs a code to open." he said. Naruto then shared his frustration as both of the guards were unconscious.

"No time for niceties." he said. Pointing his ring he fired an energy beam which blew the door open. However, they looked inside and found that it was empty.

"What the hell? You sure your intel was correct?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes. Tomy-Fai was supposed to be here in this cell." said Razer.

"Well she isn't anymore." said Naruto. Looking at the guard Razer punched, an ugly three eyed humanoid, grabbed by the front of his uniform and forced him into the wall immediately waking him up.

"Where's the prisoner you had here?" he questioned.

The guard laughed "Why should I tell you?"

Naruto then made a kunai construct and stabbed it into his shoulder. He then clasped the guard's mouth to muffle out his screams. When he was done shaking from the pain the guard look up at him.

"You think pain is going to make me talk?"

"No. I assume you're going to talk before I make my construct explode, take out your arm, and force you to bleed to death." said Naruto. The defiance in the guard then turned to fear as he glance and the kunai still stuck in his shoulder. "Now tell me where she is!"

"The men took her to the courtyard. The warden of this place is planning some kind of demonstration there with her. The bitch didn't give any information so he figures the guys would have some fun before we kill her."

Naruto clinched at the kunai and the guard thought he was going to twist it further. Instead he seemed to what appeared to be electricity or lighting coming from his hand. Naruto then looked at his hand and noticed it as well but was more concentrated on what the guard just said.

"When is this?" he asked

"It's starting right now. All the lanterns are present there. There's nothing you can do." he said with a smile.

"Razer!" he said suddenly to his partner who stood there in silent rage at hearing what they were going to do to the prisoner. "You said Tomy-Fai was ambushed?" Razer nodded. "They must have got her when she was charging her ring then."

"That is the most likely case yes." said Razer. "It also means that they have her battery."

"That's true." said Naruto turning to the minion who nodded. "Where?"

"The armory." he said. Naruto the shoved him to the blue lantern.

"Take my friend here to it then." he then looked to Razer. "If he tries anything knock him out or kill him makes no difference to me."

"You can't go to the courtyard on your own. You saw it there were at least fifty of them out there!" said Razer.

"You let me worry about that. When you have the battery wait at least thirty minutes before coming to the courtyard. I'll contact you when it's done. If you don't hear from me by then get back to Oa. The Guardians will know what to do next." he order.

"Naruto!" Razer called out before the young lantern went out. "Good luck."

Naruto nodded. He then used his rings cloak and moved towards the hall way as Razer pushed the guard who was looking at the kunai still stuck in his arm.

From there Naruto managed to move towards the courtyard going through the supposed throne room of the place. The guard was right about one thing. Everyone was going to be there.  
 _  
_ _'Good.'_ he thought to himself. Seeing the wall itself was empty he climbed on it and looked on to the events below.

The fifty yellow lanterns stood in a circle surrounding what appeared to be there commander. He was a tall man at least eight feet tall who was completely bald with a short Grey beard who moved like someone who was had some prowess but was ultimately lazy.

"Well my fellow members of the Sinestro Corps. As you all well know we have had the honor of having a special guest of ours for the past few months. But I realized in all that time she hasn't had a proper welcome here. And since she hasn't been speaking to us in any sort of fashion except for the occasional insult I think maybe it's time to show her a little hospitality." he said which made them all laugh and have smirks on their faces.

He then made a gesture with his hand and soon enough two guards were dragging a struggling Tomy-Fai out into the middle of the circle of vultures that now surrounded her.

She was suffice it to say messed up. He uniform was in tatters, her face beaten and bloody with her right eye swelling, her ginger colored hair in a mess. There were cuts on her both of her cheeks. Yet through all that she still could not be beaten. Naruto could see it in those bright green eyes of hers.

"So Miss Tomy-Fai. Feeling more appreciative of our hospitality now?" he mocked asked.

Her answer was to spit blood on his face. It landed on his right cheek. The big man stopped smiling and wiped the blood off his cheek. He then punch her in the stomach which forced her down on the ground face first with the guards holding her there.

"Don't worry boys and girls." said the pig as he stood over her. "You will all get a turn to do with her as you will. Assuming I leave anything left that is." he said with a sick smile as he prepared to undress himself.

It was in that moment that Naruto had seen enough and deactivated his cloak and jumped into the air and threw two constructs on the ground. The first was what he called a senbon grenade. That became clear when it exploded and instead of shrapnel that came from it was instead several senbon that either killed or disabled half of the Sinestro Corps that were in that circle. The other was just a smoke bomb.

He wanted the rest for himself and fell into the smoke.

The next thing that the large Sinestro man knew was that half of his men were now dead and the other half were covered in smoke. He made a mace construct and was about to go in when he heard the fighting starting in the spot where the smoke grenade hit.

Or rather a massacre. For that was what it was. From the green smoke he saw yellow energy blasts fire from the smoke as well the clanging of weapons. But mostly it was just the screaming and from what he could make out was a single figure wielding what looked like two swords moving and striking with precision, speed, and power that scared him so much that all he could do was stand there and watch and the figure in the smoke picked them apart one by one. Sometimes he even saw him combining the two swords into a scythe to cut them down or a war hammer that hit them so hard that they flew from the smoke into the wall blood spilling on the pavement of it.

After what felt like an eternity but was only a few minutes the smoke finally cleared all that was there were bodies of his men. Somewhere still alive on the ground but too hurt to get up. Others were just dead.

And standing in the midst was a Green Lantern. Clad in armored version of the uniform that he was not familiar with and in a mask that covered his face with a green headband. What struck him however was the eyes. The green slitted eyes that scared him the most.

Naruto then started walking towards him and once again all he could do was stare. Then the idiot finally grew a pair, screamed and charged him with his mace on high and swung it down on him. He easily dodged the attack and twisted around jumped and then hit him with a roundhouse kick that sent the big man spinning showing him his back. From there Naruto sliced two shallow cuts to his legs that brought him to his knees. He then stuck the two ninjato into his legs straight through his shins into the ground below them. The big man screamed in pain and found himself immobilized and could not move as Naruto moved in front of him.

He then looked at him now that he was at almost the same height level. The brute clinched his teeth in rage and still held onto his mace construct. He then tried to swing it at him but without his legs he had no power in the attack. Naruto grabbed the mace and crushed it right hand. From there faster than most could see he punched the brute with lefts, rights, upper cuts, even elbows for what seemed like hours. Smashing his fists against the monster that would lay his hands on someone who could not defend herself.

When he was done he took only a few breaths to collect himself. The brute's face was a broken mess. Nose broken, cuts and bruise as far as he could see but he was still breathing. Naruto grabbed his chin to look at his swollen eyes.

"What. Is. Your. Name?" Naruto ordered.

"M...M...Mallow." said the monster in a defeated tone

"You have power in your ring?" Naruto asked. All Mallow could do was nod. "You're going to send a beacon to Sinestro. You will tell him and the rest of his bunch that Sector 2813 has a new Green Lantern. You're looking at him. If I see his symbol anywhere in this sector again I will end him and his Corps. Do you understand me?"

Mallow nodded in compliance. Naruto then let him go calling off his sword constructs from Mallows legs. He was still knelling when Naruto approached Tomy-Fai. The veteran Lantern was still on the ground but had managed to see the beat down that he had given to her would be rapist. Naruto kneeled before her with his hands held out in a placating manner.

"It's alright. You're safe now. Your safe." he said.

Suddenly the resolve she displayed disappeared and whatever strength she had left she used to move into his arms and wept onto his left shoulder. From relief or the trauma she suffered he could not know. Perhaps it was both. From there Naruto used the ring to make a blanket to help cover her as he picked her up in his arms.

Razer then came out of the court yard with Tomy-Fai's battery. He looked to see the carnage that was before him and the groaning of the people that were still alive and could not believe that this rookie took them all out on his own.

"What did you do with the guard?" Naruto asked.

"Knocked him out. Was that alright?" he said wonder if Naruto expected him to kill the guard he was using.

"That's fine. We should get back to Oa." said Naruto holding the now unconscious Lantern in his arms. "She needs medical attention."

Razer nodded and the both left the now ruined base.  
 **  
** **(Oa's Medical Facility)**

Ganthet had been floating in front of the door that lead to Oa's Medical Facility since Naruto and Razer had returned successfully with Tomy-Fai in hand. Razer volunteered to tell the Guardians about what happened while Naruto took her to the facility. To say the least the Guardians had been overall glad that they managed to not only save one of their own but sent a message. Although the body count was a bit of a surprise and the fact that Naruto went up against several Lanterns on his own was something that had been on their minds.

However, Ganthet wanted to see how the boy was holding up and find out about Tomy-Fai's condition personally.

Soon enough he saw Naruto walked out with Soranik Natu escorting him out. Naruto had his mask off.

"Thanks Doctor. You let me know if anything happens." he said.

"I will. Good work in getting her back Naruto." said Natu. Naruto nodded in response and she went back inside.

"Ganthet." he acknowledged.

"What did the Natu say on her condition?" the Guardian asked getting to the mission part first.

"Well physically she should make a full recovery. Mentally though that will take longer." said Naruto.

"She is a strong woman. She will get through this." said Ganthet.

"I know. But what they did to her. What they nearly did to her Ganthet." said Naruto stopping himself.

"You stopped that from happening. You prevented her from suffering even worse then she already had." said Ganthet.

Neither said anything for a moment. Then Naruto spoke again.

"Am I getting a reprimand for my actions earlier?" he asked with a chuckle.

"If you mean sneaking into the council chambers the answer would be no seeing, as you pointed out, they were going to call you anyway. But be wary they do not like disobedience." said Ganthet. "As for the lives you took...we are in the middle of a cold war as John would put it with the Sinestro Corps. And unfortunately in war lives are lost. There is no denying it."

"I know that. I am a soldier. I fought my own war on my world. I know what it's like." said Naruto.

"But someone as young as you should not have to." said Ganthet.

"I'm pretty sure that thought was in the guys who fought the World Wars on Earth Ganthet. They still did anyway." said Naruto.

"Those instructions have paid off I see." said Ganthet with a small smile which Naruto shared.

"In any event. I'm gonna go on patrol of my sector." he said.

"Naruto you just went through a difficult first mission. You are allowed to rest." said Ganthet.

"Ganthet I'm fine." said Naruto. Then suddenly Ganthet glared at him. They had themselves a staring contest for a few minutes before Naruto held his hands up in defeat.

"Alright I'll call it a night. I'll do the patrol tomorrow." said Naruto.

"Good. Get something and get some sleep. And no sneaking out to Mogo for training. I know what you're like now." Ganthet ordered.

"Alright I get it." said Naruto as he flew off towards the mess hall. Ganthet shook his head.

"I wonder if this is what it's like to have children." he said to himself with a small smile on his face.  
 **  
** **'Hell of a first day Kid.'**  said Kurama as Naruto flew the council chamber on the way to the mess hall.  
 _  
_ _'No kidding.'_  said Naruto. He then spotted Razer off in the distance flying towards Oa's atmosphere. Naruto then made a detour and caught up.

"Hey Razer!" he yelled. Razer stopped to look at Naruto. "Look I wanted to say it was a pleasure to work with you. Hope we can do it again." he said holding up his hand. Razer shook it and had a smile on his face.

"Same here. Though next time could you let me pull more of my weight. You did most of the heavy lifting." he joked. "Seriously though. If there is a fight to come I would be honored to fight it with you. You are a fearless warrior Naruto."

"Thanks." said Naruto letting go of his hand.

"Now I have to go. I need my own rest as I am sure you need it as well." said Razer turning to leave.

"I hope you find her." said Naruto suddenly. "Aya I mean. I know there are still those who think she's evil or what not but from what I've also heard she seemed pretty special."

"Yes...she is." said Razer with a knowing smile on his face. Naruto's eyes widened and Razer left.  
 _  
_ _'You don't think.'_  thought Naruto to his partner.

 **'Maybe he did find her after all.'** said Kurama. Naruto shrugged and went back on course to the Mess Hall.

 _'Who knows.'_ thought Naruto.  _'In any event I think it's time to look at that second scroll tomorrow. And get started in learning the fuinjutsu of my clan.'_ he continued looking at his hand remembering the lighting that came from the kunai as he flew towards the Dining Hall.

**(Odym)**

If Oa was the technological treasure trove of the universe then Mogo was nature's answer to it. Plants trees and life that rivaled even that Mogo himself. Flowing rivers and oceans. It was paradise and the perfect place to hopefully one day build the Blue Lantern Corps.

Razer arrived in front of the beach home of his and smelled the fresh air. From his ring he could tell that Brother Saint-Walker had not yet returned from his patrol of the corresponding sector. But that was not important now.

What was important was the 5'7 green beauty that came out of the beach house. She was currently dressed in a white summer dress with short length white hair that stopped close to her shoulders who had curves in all the right places.

"Hello my love." she said as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hello Aya." he said before leaning down and giving her a passionate kiss to which she returned with equally.

"You return unharmed." she said after they broke apart.

"Yes thanks to the new Green Lantern of Sector 2813." said Razer.

"New? What has happened? My databanks say Tomar-Re is of that sector but since I have been gone from the Guardians I don't know what has changed."

"You didn't get any information from the Colu after creating your technorganic body?" he asked. She shook her head. This actually led him to smile.

"Then in that case my love let us go inside. I have a story to tell you. Of who might be the fiercest and most powerful Green Lantern I have ever seen." he said as he took her hand and they walked into the house. From there he told his tale to her.

**(Orbit of Beltair IV)**

The dropping of Mallow's head was the sound the permeated over the empty throne room as the survivors of Naruto's assault stood. They were bandaged by constructs and had been given some medical attention but were still in a lot of pain. Didn't help any that their leader was in a foul mood.

"There are many things that I tolerate in this corps. Murder? Yes. Torture? Yes. Instilling fear to people in order to preserve or create order? Absolutely. But I will not tolerate anyone doing anything such as rape on another sentient species. If you all have such desires then I suggest that you go to a brothel to get it under control! Such a thing shows a lack of control and shows weakness to yourselves and to my corps! Am I clear!?" yelled Sinestro.

"Yes sir!" they cried in unison. Sinestro then made a gesture with his hand.

"Go. Prepare to destroy this facility. Leave no trace that we were here." he said. They did as they commanded and left the room. He then moved to sit on the throne and rubbed his face in frustration.

"A shame that we have lost a potential foothold here. We could still finish the construction of it." said the voice of Orochimaru as he walked in.

The Sannin, garbed in his uniform, never looked or felt better since he acquired this new body. He hadn't felt like this since he left the village all those years ago.

"No. If the message that Mallow left is true then the new Green Lantern will make sure to check this sector to make sure we are not here anymore. We cannot afford that kind of attention." said Sinestro. "What did your autopsy reveal on the bodies?"

"From what I gathered the wounds from the ones who got hit with the grenade were consistent from wounds I would see from senbon. The rest appears to be made by a combination of cuts into the intestines and arteries to simple blunt force trauma which suggests that the one who did this is highly proficient in close range combat and able to adapt to a situation wither it be preplanned or on the fly if need be." Orochimaru explained.

"And do you know of anyone who could possess those types of skills?" asked Sinestro.

Orochimaru couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"Oh I have a pretty good idea who might have done this."

**(End Chapter)**

_Words cannot express how sorry I am for being this late or how sloppy this chapter is at the moment. I am currently writing this at 3:35 am so I am dead tired. Computer was having issues so I had to get it repaired which seriously hampered my writing ability. But again I apologize extremely and my dedication to this has been renewed._

_Now before any says it the reason Naruto didn't use any jutsu in the fight with the Sinestro Corps is mainly cause they were punks not worth the effort. You guys will be seeing him use jutsu more alongside his ring as the story progress's I promise you that. Including later on a certain jutsu that his father used. Hint Hint._

_As for the killing part...The GL's are the military/ police force of the universe. In my book sometimes you have to kill. That's just how I see it. Especially in war. Now when he gets to Earth he's not going to be doing that much anymore unless the situation calls for it. Killing for him is a last resort and in war there is no other way._

_Point is the origin arc is over. There is one more big event before he joins YJ but that won't take up a whole chapter like this did. Trust me._   _Its the reason he has to go to Earth for a while._

_As usual ausitnjak0 gets all the cred for the edits. And thank you guys again for the continued support._


	9. Part 1 - Betreassian Blitz

**(2 years later. Watchtower. July 20, 2010)**

Batman stood before a holo-screen console reading over a report when Hal flew in, landed before walking to him.

"Hey Bruce." he greeted.

"Hal." Batman said not bothering to turn around. Hal ignored this and looked over his shoulder to see what his colleague and ally was looking at.

"Something happening in Santa Prisca?" Hal asked. Batman sighed and decided to just answer him to see if he would leave him be.

"Santa Prisca is the largest producer of the venom super steroid drug." he said.

"I know that Bruce, I do manage to keep informed on what goes on on my home planet." Hal responded crossing his arms.

"Except for at least the last day or so all shipping has stopped from the plant on the island. However, production of the drug has increased since." said Batman disregarding Hal's words to keep him on task.

"You think someone is muscling in on Bane then?" he questioned.

"I'm not sure yet. I need more intel before making that assumption." Batman responded.

"So I'm guessing that means you'll be sending that new covert team that's made up of younger heroes like Aqualad and Robin and the rest?" Batman turned off the console to look at him with an eyebrow raised behind his cowl. "I was talking with Barry about it. It's actually the reason I wanted to talk to you."

"And why is that?" the dark knight asked.

"I know that you included those who found out what Cadmus was doing into the team, along with Superman's clone Superboy. I know that you also had J'onn's niece M'gann aka Miss Martian join." Hal explained.

"Would you mind getting to the point." Batman demanded.

Hal put his hands up in a placating manner. "Hey, I just want to know if there's room for one more in this team's roster."

"As far as I know there is no set limit with the team at present." said Batman. "Did you have someone in mind?"

"As a matter of fact I do. A Green Lantern from the space sector 2813. The one next to ours." said Hal.

That stroked Bruce's curiosity a bit. "Since when do you take protégés?" he asked.

"He's no protégé. He's nineteen years of age and he's been Green Lantern of his sector for two years. He's a brilliant tactician, strategist and a cunning warrior. He also happens to be our best stealth operative when the need arrives for it." Hal pitched.

Batman looked suspicious on that last one. "Since when do you Lanterns know anything about stealth? I always figured your Corps to be more on the direct side of things."

"Honestly, up until he showed up, we were lacking in that department. But that's one of the reasons why I think he'd be perfect for this team. He would at least compliment Robin on that front." said Hal.

Batman nodded silently agree with that assessment. The team could use another heavy hitter and a Green Lantern would definitely do that, especially since Superboy's powers are a watered down version of Superman's.

"He would be the oldest of the team, three years older than Kaldur." said Batman.

"I didn't know there was an age limit on the team. You selected Black Canary to train them in hand-to-hand combat because she was closer in age then you are, and because she's almost, if not your equal, in the hand-to-hand department." said Hal with a smile. "This would only add to that. Plus, and he would deny this, he happens to be a natural leader when he wants to, but only if he feels like it."

"He prefers taking orders to giving them." Batman stated.

"I wouldn't say that. He has no problem voicing his opinion on any orders he receives, he just won't take the lead unless absolutely necessary." said Hal.

The dark knight went silent for a bit. Hal knew that he was considering it but then he noticed that his face turned into a frown behind his cowl.

"You not telling me something." he said.

"Well yeah, I haven't told you his name yet." said Hal nervously scratching the back of his head.

"That isn't it. Don't try to divert me Jordan." Batman demanded. "Just when I'm about to send the team into their first mission you suddenly come in with a new recruit that fits the bill in what it needs in just about every field. I know you're not lying about that but there's something you're holding back."

Hal sighed and put up his hands in a placating manner. "Look Bruce. Yes there is something I keeping from you about him, that's true. But its nothing you need to be concerned with. Its just something happened recently and my friend needs to be off Oa for a while. I won't go into specifics mainly because it would piss him off and I don't want to do that. If you wanna ask him yourself you can. But I gotta warn you he won't talk easily. He's not one to be intimidated. By anyone." he said referring to the dark knight himself.

There was a moment of silence between them. It seemed to last for hours before Batman spoke again.

"He's as good as you say?"

"Better." said Hal with conviction. Batman then turned around and reactivated the holographic computer panel.

"What's his name?" he asked. "I will need to start compiling an Earth identity for him."

Hal smiled knowing that he got his request approved. "That's not going to be necessary. Salaak, our Clarrisi, is handling the identity for him as we speak."

Turning the panel off Batman turned to him annoyed. "I still need his name if we're going to introduce him to the rest of them. They have been together long enough to know their real names outside of work."

Hal sighed. He knew that Naruto wouldn't like it but he had to throw Bats a bone if he was going to get anywhere right now.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Now can I please go? I need to inform him that everything is set for joining your team."

"That will do." said Batman though Hal knew that his mind was already processing even that little bit of information for later. "I'm assigning the team the mission for Santa Prisca in two days. It will take that much time to plan it out. You have til then to get your man ready."

"He'll be ready." said Hal.

"Then you best get going." said Batman.

Hal left the control room and entered a zeta tube that would take him out the tower.

"Recognized: Green Lantern 05." said the computer as he zeta beamed outside the tower with his field activated, and flew towards Ajnin mentally grumbling at how Batman would be looking at Naruto's name.

'All this over the Guardians being more paranoid then he is.' he thought to himself as he recalled what happened that lead to him having to get Naruto to Earth.

**(Three Months Ago, Oa, Planetary Citadel)**

Hal practically burst through the door when he got the call from the Guardians telling all Lanterns who were on Oa to report to the Citadel for an emergency call from Frontier Space. It also mentioned that any Lantern who was on patrol to cease all action to hear it. He and the rest that were on Oa watched with apt attention to the message.

Hal especially given who the Frontier Lantern was.

"This is Queen Iolande of Betrassus, Green Lantern of Frontier Space. My planet is under attack from the Khundians. They have arrived with a massive invasion force and have the orbit surrounded by two battle groups with both of them having a compliment of five destroyers each."

"Five on both fronts!?" spoke up Kilowog which made the council pause the video. "Probably fighters to compliment that number on each and no telling on how many ground forces they've sent!"

"I'm afraid it only gets worse Sergeant." said Sayd as she resumed the message.

"I have reason to believe that Ragnar, my brother, is involved in the assault. For certain there are at least two members of the Sinestro Corps with them. The Star Sapphires have sent reinforcements but the Khundians have us heavily outnumbered. I'm sending this emergency message to any who can be of assistance. Please...my people are dying." implored the recording with Iolande voice on the brink of tears for her people. Hal could see the concern and battle weariness that had already marred her face before the image disappeared.

"How did the Khundians manage to get to Betrassus with fleets that size and not be detected!?" Hal questioned.

"The Sinestro Corps must have found a way to use their portals that they use to enter the Anti-Matter Universe to get them there. Or the son's of bitches have trans-warp technology or something." said Kilowog. "Doesn't matter how they got there, we need to do something."

His sentiment was shared with many nods from the corps.

"May I remind you all that we have no way to reach Betrassus. Even at top speed it would take you all eighteen months before you would reach frontier space never mind the planet itself." said Appa looking down at all of them.

"Haven't you guys been building a new ship or something?" Hal asked.

Ganthet sighed "Unfortunately that project, among others," he looked to Appa. "Have been stalled due to our concerns with the Sinestro Corps here in Guardian space."

"Surely there must be something that can be done." said Arisia stepping forward.

"However unfortunate, in this situation, the only thing we can do is alert any Frontier lanterns of the crisis, which has already been done just now and hope that the Star Sapphires can hold the defense of the planet." said Ranakar.

"Those lanterns have basic skills at best!" said Laira. "They do not have the training nor experience to handle this."

"That is enough 0112! The Guardians have made our decision as one!" Appa declared.

"With all due respect Appa but we have not." said Sayd. "I agree with assistant trainer Laira. Something must be done."

Before Appa could refute that claim Salaak, floating in his usual spot in the center of the chamber, noticed something going off on his console.

"Excuse me Guardians but I have something on sensors." he said. "There is a Green Lantern flying towards the direction of the Maelstrom."

"What? What fool Lantern would be headed there?" Appa questioned. Ganthet ignored him at looked to Salaak.

"Display the map please Salaak?" he said.

As if reading his mind the Clarrisi did so pulling the map up for all to see. Sure enough there on the map was a green figure in it that resembled the Lantern heading to Maelstrom. The border between Guardian and Frontier space.

"Which Green Lantern is that?" asked Hal.

"The Lantern's trail starts from Space Sector 2813." said Salaak frowning as he knew who it was.

"Naruto?" said Hal disbelieving it.

"Kid's got brass I'll give him that." said Kilowog.

"He always has. Never turned down a distress call since he took that sector." said B'dg who had been on Arisia's shoulder with her nodding the same.

"Be that as it may, it seems our young Lantern does not understand that he cannot make the journey in time to help save Betrassus." said Appa with an almost smug tone. "Clarrisi contact him and tell him to return to his sector immediately."

While Salaak did not particularly like Appa's tone he could not dispute his logic despite the young man's good intentions.

However, before he could make the call the signal that was Naruto suddenly glowed brighter than it had before and suddenly the signal of Naruto on the map was traveling at a much faster speed than any of them ever had, leaving the members in the room stunned.

"Salaak what just happened?" asked Kilowog before the council.

"I-I don't know how but his ring's power levels have increased exponentially. The speed he is traveling at has also increased above normal standards for a Green Lantern." he said.

"How is that..." Appa began before looking to Ganthet who looked at the map with rapt attention. "Ganthet! You were explicitly told not to use your blue lantern battery prototype unless all members of the council approved it."

"You will find from Salaak that is not the case." said Ganthet with a worried tone as he watched Naruto's signal approach the Maelstrom.

"He's right sir. There is no trace whatsoever of blue lantern energy surrounding him. However he's doing it, Naruto is enhancing his ring's power on his own." said Salaak.

Hal and a few other Lanterns that he would never name took a great deal of satisfaction as seeing Appa's flabbergasted expression upon hearing that news.

"That does not matter at the moment." said Sayd trying to bring order for the moment and getting everyone back on the present situation. "Clarrisi how long before he reaches Betrassus?" she asked.

"At his current speed he will be there in under three days. Three days too late I'm afraid to help." said Salaak being the realist that he was he had no choice but to give out the facts even if he hated it.

"Then call him back to Oa immediately!" demanded Appa. "He must be questioned about-"

He was soon cut off as the signal of Naruto's ring grew brighter than it did before. So bright that it almost filled the map. Naruto's signal then sped up even more blowing passed the Maelstrom and entering Frontier space.

"Naruto's ring power just increased again! Where it once was barely above four hundred percent in increase its now above one thousand percent. Higher then even Hal and Kilowog's levels when they were exposed to blue lantern energy. Same with the speed he has now achieved through the energy increase. I dare say he may be approaching Ultra-Warp speeds. At his current rate he will be in Betrassus's orbit no sooner then two or three hours." said Salaak pushing buttons as fast as his four hands can trying to keep up with the current events happening.

Everyone in the room was shocked to hear this but it could not be denied as they saw his bright glowing signature as it flew faster and faster to the endangered planet.

"Jordan you think that what he's doing has something to do with his chakra network or something? I mean that has to be it right?" Kilowog whispered.

"I don't know buddy." said Hal. "But something tells me it's more about Naruto and not what he has in common with his race."

"And why would make you say that?" Kilowog asked.

"Look at Ganthet." Laira observed. They did so and found he seemed to have a knowing smile on his face.

"It doesn't matter how he gets there." said Arisia joining the conversation. "Do you think Naruto will be able to help?"

Hal and the rest looked to map and saw the bright light of the young lantern's signal and it flew ever closer.

"Something tells me Arisia that the Khundians and the rest don't know what is about to hit them." said Hal.

A sentiment that everyone seemed to silently agree with.

**(Orbit of Betrassus)**

The planet's orbit was alight with the battle. Lasers, constructs, and explosions abounded as the battle raged, and it was not going in the favor of the planet's defenders.

Queen Agapo of the Star Sapphires had sent everyone that she could from their Corps. Almost the entirety had been sent to help equal the force that had come to attack Betrassus as was their duty. Their Corps was dedicated to spreading love throughout the universe, and as such they also were duty bound to protect it and any worlds under their charge.

Since Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris reminded them of this the Star Sapphires had made a treaty with the Guardians that while there would still be a lantern presence in Frontier space it would be they that would mainly be in charge of its protection from the day after Aya had supposedly been destroyed.

That sense of duty is what lead Sergeant Galea as she lead four others in formation and destroyed a fighter squadron that had tried to outflank them from behind. They then managed to work together and formed a construct of a cannon. They then aimed and fired at a destroyer ships engine. The blast destroyed the engines while also encasing the ship inside a crystal. This gave them to breathe during the fight.

"Report!" she called out. "I need status check on what's going on the ground and how many destroyers are left."

"Sergeant we have managed to successfully exhaust their number of fighters and have destroyed half of them on this side." reported the voice of one of her sisters in combat. "But we have only managed to destroy two of the destroyers on this side. Queen Iolande has not been able to send any more ships to send in because of the ground troops and what remains of she did send on either side of the planet's orbit are destroyed or severely damaged."

"Can you give my an estimate on the strength of the ground forces that they sent?" she asked going into battle again fending of several fighters with her battle axe constructs before combining them into a spear and slicing another three in half.

"For certain the ground forces they sent include at least two hundred thousand in infantry with tanks to equate that. For certain they have included at least one siege tank with fire power to destroy the capital city. Before the scout we sent died she reported that Ragnar and the two Sinestro Corp members had joined them...ahhh!"the message ended in scream and Galea closed her eyes as they had lost another sister.

"I only hope our allies on the other side are doing better." she said to herself as the battle raged. Anger filled her as she rallied her squad of Sapphires in wedge formation taking out three cruisers and several other fighters. However, the firepower from the destroyers soon concentrated on her forces and blew them apart. She and two others managed to get a few shots in but only did minimal damage to the ships and could not work together to form another cannon construct.

The best that they could do was put up shields and tried using defensive fire but then one of the destroyers fire a torpedo and scored a direct hit on her company. Their shields fell apart and more than half of Galea's force were killed in the explosion.

Galea herself managed to stay alive along with others of her sisters but she was wounded badly and took a page from her estranged love Kilowog's book and formed min-guns on her arms and a missile launcher on her shoulders and kept firing. She could feel the blood tricking down from her head down her left cheek but kept fighting alongside her sisters.

"Keep fighting sisters! If we die today, we die knowing that we gave our all for the sake of love and the people who will find peace in it!" she screamed. She knew it was false motivation but there it was as she and sisters continued to fight on.

"I only wish I could have seen him...one more time. Just to make it right." said Galea sadly.

Just as she said that, a bright green light shown from above the three remaining destroyers. She and her sisters looked up to see a giant creature appear from the heavens above them. From what she could see, it appeared to be a creature from Earth, a fox if she remembered correctly. But this fox was by far the most menacing thing she had ever seen.

It was seemingly made of green fire for starters, and what appeared to be archaic symbols, ran though its entire body. And besides its massive stature, behind it waved nine long tails and it seemed to have possess some humanoid features as well. It was the most intimidating thing she had ever seen in her time as a Star Sapphire.

The beast floated upright as it swooped down and with its surprisingly human like hand and sliced the first destroyer that attacked them in half, which exploded almost instantly after that. From there the other two destroyers turned their attention to the beast and fired everything they had at it. The beast turned as the energy from their guns hit it. It seemed to grunt in annoyance before turrets of its own suddenly appeared on it body and intercepted the remaining energy blasts.

That was when Galea noticed that there was someone inside the beast's head. The person inside also was covered in fire and had strange symbols upon him just like the beast, and what looked like slitted eyes as well. While she had no idea who it was, or for that matter what species, she recognized the symbol on his chest as soon as she saw it.

"Sisters!" she called out. "Have no fear. This is the construct of a Green Lantern. He has come to give us aid. Move in to give him support against the ships attacking him."

Her remaining Sapphires moved in formation as they flew at the enemy who just now finished their onslaught to recharge their weapons and reload. It was then that the large construct, not the Lantern, looked down at the approaching Star Sapphires.

**"Stay back. We've got this."**  growled the fiery beast. That made stop in their tracks. Hearing this thing talk made her start to think that maybe this Lantern had the same power as Larfreeze did to make his construct alive, but looking at the form as it turned back and looking at the masked lantern, and noticing that the beast wasn't coming from his ring, instead using the lantern himself as the source made her think.

There was something else at work here.

But her attention went back to their battle as the beast opened its mouth. The lantern inside the head moved his hands in the forward position. From there they seem to gather energy and formed it into a big dark green ball. When it looked like it couldn't get any larger, the beast fired the ball into one of the destroyers.

The ball cut through the ships shields as if they were made of paper, slowing the shot down only slightly before it made contact with the ships' hull. The explosion from the impact was so great that Galea and her Sapphires had to shield themselves from the impact wave, but her sister ship wasn't so lucky, and was sent adrift with a fire raging somewhere inside.

With the fighting temporarily halted the being that appeared before them started to approach them. When it got closer, the beast around the Green Lantern disappeared along with the markings and the flames that surrounded his being. By the time the Lantern reached them, no signs of the beast remained, save for the bits of debris flying in every direction from what one was a destroyer class starship.

Without the markings Galea could see that the green lantern who had saved them was young, nineteen in Earth years, if he was indeed from Earth. His uniform consisted of some strange light armor design she was not familiar with, spiky blond hair, and a headband and a mask that covered the lower portion of his face. He was also tall for a human, about six feet in length.

The young man then made a salute across his chest fist enclosed.

"I am Naruto. Green Lantern of Sector 2813 of Guardian Space here to offer assistance to our allies here in Frontier space." he introduced.

Galea was the only one who managed to shake herself out of her stupor and turned to her troops to order them to take out the remaining enemy forces and recover the survivors from the last destroyer that was now disabled. After they left she turned to Naruto and returned the salute.

"Sergeant Galea of the Star Sapphires. Glad to see a friendly face." she said. "The construct you made seemed different than the others."

"Yeah you could say that." said Naruto.

"In any case me and my fellow Sapphires owe you our lives." said Galea gratefully deciding to table any curiosity she had for the present.

"We are allies are we not? The treaty between us means Frontier space is your guy's jurisdiction but it doesn't mean we can't help if we can." said Naruto with a smile under his mask. He then turned serious.

"In any case I need to know what has been happening since Queen Iolande sent the distress call." he said.

Galea nodded and begun to explain.

"Soon after she sent the message across space was when the Khundians had started sending their forces to the ground to start taking the planet. My sisters and I did the best we could to try to stop as many ground ships from landing as we could. Unfortunately, even with assistance, our forces were too wide spread to defend the planet."

"What assistance? Aside from Iolande Frontier Lanterns are barely above recruits with their limited training." Naruto questioned as another fighter was destroyed above them from the remaining fighters in orbit around them.

"The two Blue Lanterns Corp members. Razer and Saint Walker. I'll patch you through." she said using here ring to contact them. Immediately after she did a violet version of Razer appeared on her ring.

_"Galea. Thank Grutz you are still alive. What is your current situation on your side of Betrassus?"_  he inquired.

"Much improved young Razer. We have our battle well in hand and will be able to provide you with assistance thanks to this young Green Lantern." she said moving to introduce Naruto.  
_  
__"Naruto!"_  Razer exclaimed.  _"Your timing could not have been better. How did you manage to get here though?"_

"Good to see you too Razer. We will catch up later after we deal with this." said Naruto diverting the conversation back to the small war going on. "How come you guys haven't already taken care of these ships before I got here? Last I checked with all the Star Sapphires here in force and you and Saint Walker here to provide support should be more than enough to handle this."

"Normally you would be correct." said Galea. "However, while we may have superior weapons with our rings the destroyers seemed to have been equipped with shields that can withstand some of the energy from our rings and their weapons seem to be improved."

_"Also during the initial attack Ragnar and his two Sinestro allies cut a swath through us as they landed ground forces. Many Star Sapphires died from the attempt to take out as many as they could before the ground ships hit the surface of the planet._ " Razer explained.

"How many troops managed to get to the surface do you think?" asked Naruto.

_"Best guess at least two hundred and fifty thousand with at least six tanks and one siege tank to take the city with."_ said Razer with a grim tone.

Naruto grumbled at the situation. Those numbers meant that the odds were against Iolande's troops on the surface. If the planet fell all that he and the others do in orbit would be for nothing.

"Are there any Red Lantern ships or Red Lanterns supporting this attack seeing as Ragnar is one of their own?" he asked.

This time Galea answered. "No. Prime Magistrate Zox, Razer and I use that title loosely, sent a message during the attack on how the Red Lanterns have nothing to do with Ragnar and that he is a traitor to the Reds. Furthermore he believes that Sinestro offered to help him take Betrassus from his sister."

_"Which means that he would have a foothold in Frontier space just as he tried with your sector."_  Razer said recalling Naruto's first mission.

"Makes sense." said Naruto as he crossed his arms looking as the Star Sapphires now finished with damaged destroyer fully in cased in crystal to prevent the escape of its crew.

"Alright." he said uncrossing his arms. "Galea send your remaining troops to back up Razer and Saint Walker and deal with the rest of these bastards up here. I will go down to the surface and give support to Iolande and her troops below."

"By yourself!? Young Lantern I admire your courage but it is too dangerous to go down there alone!" exclaimed the sergeant.

"Ma'am you just saw me take out two destroyers on my own with my...construct." said Naruto reluctant to call his Tailed Beast Mode or Kurama that but had to keep it as down key as he could given the circumstances. "I can handle this. You and Razer need as much firepower as you can against the remaining forces here in space."  
_  
__"He's right Galea. We've only just managed to take out one destroyer we need your help to take out the others."_  said Razer.

Galea sighed in exhaustion. They hadn't the time to discuss this further.

"Very well. You should know Naruto that when they finished dropping ground troops I had a handful of Sapphires head down to the surface to do what you are doing now. They were led by Carol Ferris of Earth. I haven't been able to make contact with them since."

"Then I need to hurry then." said Naruto knowing who Carol was and what she meant to Hal. "Good luck sergeant." he finished saluting which Galea nodded to. Naruto made a bee line to the surface.

"Are you certain that was the correct course to send him there without back up?" she questioned the hologram of Razer who had gone back to fighting the enemy.

_"You haven't seen Naruto in action Galea. Trust me he knows what he's doing. Now some assistance would be most opportune right now!"_ said Razer.

Galea immediately agreed and ordered her sisters to form up and flew towards the other side to turn the tide.

She was confident that they could take the ships. She only wished that she could say the same for the surface.

Yet after seeing what he could do with that construct, if it was a construct, she had a feeling that the surface was in good hands.

**(Betrassus, near the capital city)**

Two armies were currently fighting not far from the city that held the seat of power on the planet of Betrassus. One was the opposing Khundians who massed originally of just fifty thousand with three tanks moving in behind trailing behind them to begin cannon strikes on the capitol itself. The Khundian soldiers were clad in their battle armor moving and fighting with sinister purpose.

Currently they were engaging the brave knights and soldiers of Queen Iolande who were of course lead by the Queen herself and her finest general Kovak on the ground while Carol Ferris of Earth, clad in a complete body suit, and her nine other Star Sapphires fought the animals who were flying in the air with the fighters that came from space to give air support to the ground forces. They were being led by Romat-Ru who Carol was currently fighting.

Their ground forces amassed to the number of thirty thousand. Twenty thousand in infantry and ten thousand in cavalry. All they could spare given the sudden nature of the attack

When the two armies met Kovak and his elite guard moved in on their speeders in an attack reminiscent of the cavalry attacks from the days of medieval times on Earth, hoping to destroy at least one of the tanks before they got in range of the city while also taking out as many of the enemy as they could in the strike. Unfortunately the Khundians had prepared for that as Kothack realized too late as he saw a contingent of men on speeders intercepting them.

The good thing though was Kothack cavalry still outnumbered their speeders. The bad news was as he found out that they still managed to have blasters and managed to take out a good number of his forces. Even so, he and a small number managed to ride in, use their lances, and managed to destroy one of the tanks before having to pull back to rejoin the army. The attack forced the remaining two tanks to move faster and soon they were firing on the cities shield trying to bring it down.

Queen Iolande saw this as she was fighting with Yrra Cynril, better known as Fatality, one of the Sinestro Corps members' greatest fighters. She was doing well, able to parry her strikes from her opponents yellow spear construct with her sword. She tried to move in by jumping into the air to strike down her opponent with a two handed strike. Fatality managed to block the strike, parry it and jumped kicked the Queen in the stomach knocking her to the ground.

The queen Lantern managed to roll and get back to her feet before she saw several projectiles head towards her forcing her make a shield to stop them. The force of the attack forced her back , sending cracks across her shield construct, which her opponent used to her advantage, when the warrior princess of a dead world slammed the shield, destroying it and knocking Iolande into a group of soldiers which she quickly got rid of with her ring.

She stood bruised with cuts on her arms and legs but still defiant.

"You fight well for one with only rudimentary training your majesty." said her adversary her spear turning into swords in both her hands the battle waging around them. "For that I offer you to surrender. If you do you have my word I will negotiate with the Khundians and your brother for the safety of yourself and for your staff and soldiers."

"You don't know my brother then." said Iolande as she spat out blood from her mouth and wiped it. "He would see me dead for transgressions from his own warped mind. Whatever deal that you made for my world will not be accepted, not by me and not by my people!"

It was then that she felt a familiar presence behind her and moved out of the way just enough to suffer a deep yet not fatal blow on her ribs. As she backed away holding her bleeding right side she looked to see her brother Ragnar with shimmering energy blade in hand, and a maniacal grin on his face.

Fatality on the other hand stood in shock and, dare Iolande thought, anger at this act.

"You didn't need to interfere!" she called out in rage with her weapons still drawn. Wither or not it was for the act itself or that her brother was trying to take the kill of another Green Lantern from her she did not know.

"Be silent mercenary." he responded in a mocking tone. "You and the Khundians are here to take back my world from her and are getting an outpost and much money in compensation for it. Do not take my glory from me!"

Just as he turned his direction toward her Kovak, returning from his unsuccessful raid, joined her as she went to one knee as she held her side with a bandage construct that managed to stop the bleeding. Before Fatality could argue or have them press on with the attack there was a sudden noise in the clouds above.

Carol, up in the sky with her fellow Sapphires, also stopped fighting. The noise soon was made out to be a roar as a green dragon descended upon the ground forces. Following it were two other dragons but these were not green. Instead one appeared to made of the wind itself while another made of lightning.

The wind dragon moved past the Sapphires and turned into a tornado as it smashed into the fighter squadron they had been fighting. The winds that surrounded the enemy were so furious that the pilots had no chance of course correction and soon they smashed into themselves or the ground below, destroying their ground forces in their explosions.

The lighting dragon moved past the army into the remaining two tanks. It passed from one to another short circuiting both of the machines of war while on the way taking out the enemy raiders before disappearing in a flash.

The green one barreled its way into the infantry leaving the Betrassus troops alone while chomping, slicing, and setting the Khundians in fire with its breath decimating their forces. Raganar tried to strike it down as it made its way to him but smacked him aside. Before it could finish him Fatality moved in front of him as the dragon opened its jaws and threw a grenade construct into it destroying it instantly.

"Fight you cowards!" yelled Ragnar as he saw the remaining Khundian's run in terror at seeing these things destroy them.

"They have the right idea. We must regroup with Romat-Ru and the rest of our forces." said Fatality as she grabbed Ragnar.

Meanwhile Romat-Ru managed to correct himself as he was caught in the massive wind storm that the wind dragon had caused. He glanced down to see that the remainder of his allied forces were retreating. Even so he saw an opportunity, as Carol's back was turned as she looked around and down to figure out what happened just like everyone else.

He then flew at her sword in hand to bring it down on her head with a maniacal smile as she turned around too late to stop it. Just before he swung it down the sociopathic Xudarian glanced to the left and though he couldn't completely see what it was he knew it was a green construct. Forgetting about the Sapphire for a moment he quickly made a shield for his left arm, quickly feeling multiple hits on it. He looked at the shield and found what appeared to be the human weapon known as a shuriken, sticking out every few inches, going deep into his construct.

He turned to look for where they came from and saw the blond Green Lantern who threw them.

"Seriously!? After the little display you just made you could have shot something a little bigger!" he yelled laughing at the small weapons that were still attached to his shield.

"Didn't need to." the Lantern responded. He then snapped the fingers on his right hand.

Suddenly the shuriken glowed for a moment and before he knew it Romat-Ru's shield was blown apart and he was sent flying into the ground below and landed in a large crash.

Carol Ferris turned around to see the young man responsible for her rescue.

"Thanks for the save." she said with a relieved smile.

"No problem." Naruto said. Looking down at the spot he frowned as he saw the Xudarian get up and join with the rest of his decimated allies. "Didn't think that would kill him but still I hoped it would right then."

"Ring bearers are tough. No matter what corps. I've gotten to know that really well." said Carol looking at Romat-Ru retreating. "You'll get another chance though."

"Yeah." said Naruto who then turned the young woman and held out his hand. "Sorry forgot to introduce myself. Naruto Uzumaki, Green Lantern of Sector 2813 of Guardian space. You're Carol Ferris right?"

Carol was surprised as she shook his hand. "How did you know my name?"

"Hal. He can't shut up about you." said Naruto smiling under his mask as he let go of her hand. Carol blushed as that statement. Even though Naruto knew that the two of them had not been together for a while he could still see that they loved each other. How else could she still have the ring on her finger otherwise?

Carol blush disappeared however as she looked to the ground again but this time on the Betrassun's side of the battle.

"We need to get down there." she declared as she flew down followed by her remaining Sapphires. Naruto, noticing her change of tone, followed them down. He saw the how bad of a state Queen Iolande's forces were in; there were many dead but many others injured from the fight, and noticed that Carol's fellow sisters' were moving in to help with the wounded.

They flew to where Kothack was yelling for a medic while holding on to a wounded Queen Iolande.

"Hold on Your Majesty. Someone will come soon. Will someone get a damn medic!? The queen had been injured!" he screamed.

"Kothack...that is enough. My wound is not...as bad as it appears." said the queen though she was having trouble breathing from the pain of he cut while pressing on her bandage construct to keep pressure on the wound.

"Move out of the way." Naruto suddenly declared as he and Carol landed in front of the general and the queen, and pushed Kothack out of the way as he moved towards the wound.

"Who are you?" said Kothack defensively.

"He's the guy who just saved our hides." said Carol in his defense as Naruto moved beside her.

"Your Majesty can you hear me?" he asked. Iolande nodded though Naruto could see that the pain was making it hard for her to stay conscious.

"My name is Naruto. I'm a Green Lantern from Guardian space. Now I need you to remove your bandage construct so I can look at your wound. Can you do that?" he asked.

"If she removes the construct she could bleed to death!" General Kothack replied.

"Not if I can heal it, but I have to see how bad it is before I can do anything." said Naruto.

Iolande grimaced but managed to concentrate enough to remove the bandage. From there they could see the deep cut that Ragnar had managed to land was bleeding profusely.

"We're in luck. The wound is deep but he managed to miss the kidneys and the other internal organs. I should be able to heal it." said the young ninja.

"Good thing...my brother was never good with a blade." said Iolande with a small but sad smile on her face but then grimaced from the pain.

"Just a moment. You shouldn't talk until I've healed you." said Naruto as his hands started to glow an almost ethereal green as he moved toward the cut. The wound immediately closed and the Queen's pain was gone seconds later and she could instantly breathe easier. A few seconds later, he helped her stand up.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"It's an ability of sorts unique to my home world." said Naruto cryptically.

"The same kind of trick that allowed you to summon dragons of wind and lightning from out of nowhere?" Carol guessed with her arms crossed.

"What!? You mean he did that? I thought the gods themselves had done such a thing. I mean the green one I can understand that was a construct but the other two...how?" said Kothack flabbergasted as the notion that a person could have such a power.

"We have more pressing matters." Naruto reminded them. "Like for the ground troops. I was told by Razer and by Sapphire Galea that at least two hundred and fifty thousand troops landed here supported by six tanks and a megatank. I counted only the fifty thousand and three tanks when I arrived."

"Unfortunately your assessment of their numbers was correct." Kothack agreed, returning to his general status. "These troops were used to assess our current strength and numbers. The fifty thousand plus the three tanks were just one large scouting party used to find out our strengths, our tactics and our weaknesses. And aside from your arrival and abilities that you have showcased I fear that they will regroup and send the rest of their troops and heavy tanks to finish us off."

"Wait a minute." Carol said joining the conversation. "From what Hal told me Ragnar doesn't strike me as someone smart enough to use that kind of strategy."

"And Romat-Ru, the Sinestro Corps member that you were fighting, doesn't have that level of tactical ability either. He's a vicious son of a bitch and a veteran Corps member but not a great thinker." said Naruto.

"No but Fatality is. That was the warrior I was facing before Ragnar took a shot at me from behind." said Iolande.

Naruto face palmed and dragged his hand over his face in sighing.

"Great of course she's here. That would explain it."

"Um I've only been a Sapphire for a few years could someone explain who this is? Though that name does make me nervous a little info would be nice." said Carol

"Fatality. Her real name is Yrra Cynril. Even out here in the Frontier we have heard of her prowess in battle. She has a brilliant mind to match and is said to have the ability to detect the weaknesses of her opponents, and her hatred for the Green Lanterns is said to be very deep." said Kothack.

"Why?" said Carol.

"Because a Green Lantern made a mistake. And it ended up costing her home planet of Xanshi." said Naruto with a forlorn look knowing full well which Lantern it was but decided not to tell them who.

"I see." said Iolande sadly.

"Doesn't matter what her reasons are though. She's still the enemy even if we sympathize with her." said Naruto. "My other concern is Ragnar. Is he the only Red that we have to face or do we need to worry about Zox and the rest making a move with the Sinestro Corps?"

"No. Prime Magistrate Zilius Zox was the one to warn me of the impending attack to inform me that my brother was being a fool and that we may do was we please with him. He even promised to send some ships but it would take time." said the Queen.

"More than likely after Razer, Saint Walker, and the rest do most of the heavy lifting up in space." said Naruto. They all nodded in agreement of that statement.

"General! My Queen!" a voice called out. They all turned to see a scout in a damaged smoking but functioning speeder heading towards them. He slid to a stop, got off his speeder and knelled before them.

"They...are coming." he said out of breath in fear of what he saw.

"Calm yourself lad take a moment to gather your breath." said the general.

"Sir. The enemy is on the move." he said.

"When!?" said Iolande in an almost panicked tone.

"Soon after the battle the remaining troops from the attack rejoined the main force. I managed to follow them to the rest of their army, but it was already heading this way!" he said.

Soon the others were starting to murmur and whisper in worry and panic at the thought of the speed that the Khundian's were coming and the force they were coming with. Iolande, while feeling scared herself for her people, did her best to keep cool.

"How long before they reach our position?" she asked.

"A day if not less." said the scout.

"Thank you soldier." said the queen. He saluted and left them to their thoughts.

"A day. Our banner men of the planet won't be able to make in time before they arrive. And we don't have the forces to withstand that on our own." said Kothack.

"And that's assuming that Fatality and Romat-Ru will wait. Anyone of them could decimate our forces that don't have rings." said Carol.

Naruto stood silent while the other three were conversing over how to deal with the crisis arms crossed in thinking.  
_  
__'Kurama you thinking what I'm thinking?'_  he asked his old friend and partner.

**'Kid I'm inside your head. Of course I know what you're thinking.'**

_'And?'_ he asked.

**'I say what are you waiting for? Tell them so we can end this thing.'** said Kurama anxious for his partner to get into battle once more. Naruto smirked at that.

Truth be told he was tired of standing as soon as he heard the army's approach.

"Your Majesty if I may?" he said out loud. His voice stopped their arguing of what to do to listen to their new ally.

"Kothack take as many warriors as you can and have them wait at the city gates. Those men, along with the city's defenses, should be able to ward off any forces that come to you. Carol, you and the Queen take to the skies with what remains of your squadron of Sapphires. You should be able to handle any fighters or aircraft that get past our friends in space or the remaining forces here on the surface that get past." said Naruto handing out his plan.

"Wait." said Iolande. "That sounds like a sound plan but what you mean when you say get past? By what?"

"That's easy Your Majesty." said Naruto moving in front of them with his back to them. He turned his head to them.

"By me. I'm going to go intercept them before they get here." said Naruto.

"Wait a minute!" yelled Carol. "You know the force that their army has and also the skills and abilities of the two Sinestro Corps members. You can't face that alone!"

"Carol Ferris of Earth." the masked lantern said calmly turning his head to her. "With all due respect I have faced far worse odds. Before and after I got this ring." said Naruto. Then without another word he jumped and flew off towards the approaching army.

"Damn it. Never thought I would meet someone crazier then Hal!" said Carol getting ready to go after him.

"Ms. Ferris don't." said the queen stopping the Star Sapphire. "As much as I may dislike it at the very least with his plan we may have a chance to defend the planet. At the very least he may be able to buy time for our world's banner men to arrive with their men and we may hold Betrassus."

"But Queen Iolande we can't just leave him out there to die. At least let me send some of my group of Sapphires to provide back up." said Carol.

"Let him go with his plan." said Kothack suddenly getting both ladies attention. "Though I may have no knowledge when it comes to Lanterns, I know warriors, and though young he may be when I saw his eyes for the first time when he helped you your highness, I saw the eyes of a battle tested veteran. So believe me when I say that perhaps that army is the one who will need assistance not the Green Lantern."

Carol still looked like she wanted to protest but she could see that the Queen's and the General's minds were made up. So they did as Naruto suggested and moved the wounded and rallied the rest of the troops towards the capital city. And while she did have doubts she remembered the display they saw earlier.

And her gut was telling her that Kothack would be correct.

**(A thousand miles from the capital)**

Romat-Ru stood with his commander Yrra and the idiot Prince Ragnar as he finished bandaging his now broken arm.

"Damn son of a bitch is gonna pay for this!" he declared.

"You should be fortunate that it didn't get blown off when he threw those constructs at your shield, since you were stupid enough not to realize that they would explode." Fatality said in a distasteful tone at her subordinate as she observed the movement of the troops and the tanks behind them with a neutral look.

"Don't start with me Fatality I am not in the mood." said the Xudarian still suffering pain from the exploding shuriken.

"Forget that!" declared Raganar pushing past him. "Why are we not moving ahead of the army? We three should be enough to destroy Iolande and her cohorts including the other Green Lantern that appeared."

"Because we need to make sure that the rest of the Khundian's stay in formation. After the display that of our new opponent, the remnants of our scouting force began talking with the rest of the troops. Already rumors spread like wild fire. They are keeping it suppressed but there is a notion of fear among them now." she observed.

"You can't know that for certain." Ragnar objected.

Suddenly Fatality turned and looked at him with both annoyance and disgust.

"You should not doubt my ability to sense the weakness in others boy. For instance I can sense your inability to lead anything never mind a whole planet. You were the one who called us and ran from your Red brethren to try and make a play for Betrassus. Without us you would not have even gotten this far." said the warrior princess.

"You can't talk to me in that fashion. I am the true ruler of Betrassus!" Ragnar declared. He then found himself held in the air by the throat from Yrra's bare hand. He tried to use his ring but she squeezed tighter on his throat that he had trouble breathing and thus could not focus his rage.

"You are no king boy. If it were up to me I would gut you here and now." she said in anger. She then dropped him on his ass. "The only reason I don't is because of the promise you made to us that we would have a foothold in Frontier space with Betrassus and the worlds under its rule. Don't forget that."

She then turned back to the army. And though she would never admit it she was disgusted with the company she had been keeping since joining Sinestro, and of their current mission to take a world and its sister planets under the Khundian and Sinestro Corps control since they had now become partners. Especially since the Queen had proven herself a just and wise ruler.

She shook head to remove those thoughts.

_'This is for vengeance against my people. Those that the Green Lantern could not save. I will make them all pay for what happened.'_ she thought to herself. The same thought she always had when she had doubts.

But part of her wondered if this was all this misery and death was worth it? And was it for vengeance or to silence something else?

"Fatality!" Romat-Ru called out shaking her from her thoughts.

He was using a binocular construct and pointing at the sky ahead of the army. She created one of her own and saw a green figure flying towards them.

"He's coming alone." she stated with curiosity.

"Green boy. It's payback time." said the sadistic Xudarian.

"Indeed." said Ragnar. "Our tanks will slaughter him before he even makes it above the infantry."

Fatality would have agreed with their assessment if she did not see this young man decimate their initial attack the way that he did, for she had no doubt that somehow those wind and lightning dragons came from him just the same as the green construct of one. And she still heard nothing from the battle above the skies with the Khundian destroyer groups. From that silence she knew that he had partook in that battle as well.

All this told her that unless they took the capital city and took the planet then this would be a failed endeavor, and all this unnecessary death of Betrassus's people was for nothing.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the mysterious new player in this battle today as he stopped just short of the infantry and hovered just outside of the cannon's range as the army continued to move forward.

She then saw him raise his ring hand as if to attack, only it didn't seem like he was using it other than to fly.

"Send what's left of our fighter escort to take him out now!" she ordered Ragnar.

"Why? Our army will reach him within a few moments. There is no need to rush his end." said the traitorous Red.

Before she could admonish him for his arrogance she realized it was too late as she suddenly felt a gust of wind start to build up. She looked to see that Green Lantern was the source, as he seemed to gather wind around him, which he used to send a large wave of wind that appeared to flow directly from his hand in a slicing motion. Not only was it powerful but surprisingly precise as he directed it to the four tanks behind the two hundred thousand Khundian troopers. The strength of it was so great that it sliced the tanks in half while at the same time making the troops fall like dominoes.

To top it off he then sent several hundred senbon constructs that took out at least five hundred of the now panic stricken forces front line, all the while flying towards them once again before landing and running at them.

Fatality and her cohorts watched in horror at the devastation of their forces their binoculars long gone as they could now see everything in close enough distance. The sole survivor of Xanshi looked at the Green Lantern with keen eyes and pondered why he was moving toward the enemy with the army's weapons having no effect on him as he either dodged or was shielded from the laser fire and missiles. The answer came as he got closer and formed what looked like a T hand sign with his hands. Instantly after he did that two thousand puffs of smoke appeared.

What came out was now two thousand version of the same Lantern. The original then made a sword construct as he and they crashed into the army.

"Who the fuck is this guy!?" said Romat-Ru looking down at the carnage of the battle as the Green Lantern and his "clones" were decimating their army. Whether it was from the originals sword slashing or the breaking of bones and helmets by the clones, blood was being spilled all over the battlefield. Those Khundians were lucky if they managed to kill one but it just disappeared in a puff of smoke before being killed. It was sure chaos.

Fatality then looked away to a dumb founded Ragnar and grabbed a hold of him from the front of his jacket.

"Get the fighters into the air now! And call the Siege Tank from the rear to move in where the tanks were." she said. Ragnar nodded then looked down in anger at seeing his hopes to rule Betrassus being destroyed by this outsider before moving to his ear piece to call for the remaining fighters and the large siege weapon.

"The Siege Tank was meant to take out the shields in the capital." said Romat-Ru.

"Doesn't matter now. This battle is lost. The best we can hope for is to kill this Lantern now and hope that alone can appease the Khundians and Sinestro." said Fatality with almost relief in her voice. "The fighters will draw him out of hiding. The weakness in this technique of his, and don't ask me how he is doing it because I don't know, is that if we kill the caster then the technique dies with him."

"So then the Tank will blow his ass out of existence then." said Romat-Ru his mood picking up. "And if not we finish the job ourselves and get off this planet and send a distress call to the Corps."

Fatality nodded. Thankfully Romat-Ru could pick things up if explained. She then noticed that Ragnar was now gone.  
_  
__'That little shit.'_  she thought to herself and looked and the Xudarian and he had the same thought and flew off into the battlefield knowing where he was going.

Meanwhile Naruto had sliced through another three enemies using the Vacuum blade technique with his ring. He then saw multiple missiles heading towards him but easily destroyed them with another Wind Scythe jutsu like he did before. He leapt into the air while throwing his construct letting it disappear and made several hand signs.

"Wind Style: Air Cannon Jutsu!" he called out with his hands forward and fired several compressed air projectiles that destroyed several thousand troops sending them flying into the air. He then hovered above several feet in the air looking that battle.

He saw his clones punch, kick, use several jutsu of both wind and lightning as they leveled the enemy into dust. He himself had done the same but since he had the ring he used swords, senbon, kunai, hell even senbon grenades. Even though the battle was only half over he knew that this days was theirs.

**'Kid this was too easy. You didn't even need to use Shadow Clones on these assholes.'**  said Kurama.

_'It was more efficient then having to do it all on my own.'_  Naruto reasoned as he heard the sound of fighters coming in from the sky.

**'More lambs to the slaughter. Watch your back though they may attempt final bold maneuver, if nothing else to try and kill you before leaving in a heap.'**  Kurama warned to which Naruto nodded to.

He turned to one of his clones who had a still living Khundian on his knees surrendering.

"Go get em boss we got these assholes." said the clone.

Naruto wasted no time then as he flew to meet them. The fighters saw him and immediately opened fire. He dodged and weaved through the lasers they shot at him with and fired some bolts of his own from the ring. With deadly accuracy he blew two fighters into oblivion and fired more volleys.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Remember that you stinking bastards." said Naruto as he continued firing and destroying the last of the fighters.

**'Kid to your left on the ground.'** Kurama called out as Naruto fired his last two shots before turning to see the ground below. What was left of the army of the rampaging Khundians moved back to their transports to get away from his clones parted when the siege tank rolled in. It even rolled on its own numbers to get in range.

"Well shit." said Naruto as he prepared for the onslaught that the tank would bring. On cue if fired its large energy beam straight at him. He put a shield up and it managed to block the attack but it forced him further into the sky.

_'You wanted a challenge.'_ Naruto said to his partner as he gritted with effort to hold the shield. He already saw cracks starting to form.

**'Kid you better do something 'cause your construct will break or you will lose power before that cannon loses energy.'** Kurama advised. It was then Naruto got one of his crazy ideas.

_'Kurama do you remember the story about Deacon? Kilowog's predecessor and how he took down that tank?'_ he asked.

**'Uh I wouldn't use him as a reference!'** said Kurama knowing what happened to him.

_'Well he was us was he?'_ Naruto questioned. He didn't need an answer as he felt the fox smile at that. After reinforcing his shield he started flying directly toward the tank. As he moved passed to the half-way point he used his left hand and created a Rasengan from it. He channeled lightning chakra into it, and it soon became a swirling ball of lightning that crackled and shook with energy. When he was close enough to see the nozzle of the cannon he moved the shield aside and shoved it in.

"Lightning Style: Rasengan!" he shouted as he did this.

The beam stopped as the jutsu traveled into the nozzle sending shocks of the lightning throughout the massive siege weapon. The pilot inside turned to bacon as he was fried from the attack, and then the tank itself blew up in a massive explosion with Naruto just a few feet away from the blast.

The smoke from the explosion soon cleared with Naruto in the center of the crater still standing, although a little singed, but before he could get his bearings Ragnar suddenly appeared with a red sword shimmering in his hands from his power ring.

"You ruined everything! Betrassus was meant to mine this day!" he yelled swinging but the young Lantern was easily dodging every one of his clumsy swings. "This was supposed to be my-"

He was interrupted when Naruto grabbed the sword's blade with both hands. He tossed it aside, moved forward, and slammed his elbow into the ex-Red's face breaking his nose. Blood protruded from his nose as he tried to stay conscious only to be then finally beaten with a a right liver shot and was sent spiraling with a spinning left kick that knocked him out cold as he landed hard on the ground.

Naruto didn't have time to celebrate as missiles were fired at him from Romat-Ru's ring. He flipped and jumped to make most of them miss while sending two of them right back at the Xudarian psychopath who had to jump out of the way of them and quickly had to put but a barrier up as the ninja ran towards him and rammed a Rasengan into his shield. The barrier shattered on impact and the force sent Romat-Ru flying into the wall of the crater, although he managed to protect his fractured arm that was still in the bandage construct.

Unfortunately Naruto was too late as he turned and saw Fatality spear him through the gut. With a yell she jumped with him still on the spear end and pinned to a spot not so far away from Romat-Ru.

Still clutching his wounded arm the Xudarian found himself laughing as they heard all the clones disappear in puffs of smoke like Fatality said they would.

"You know for all the trouble this bastard caused us to make this mission go fubar it seems almost too easy how we managed to bring him down. Not so much of a fight huh?" he said cockily.

That also made her curious as well.

"Normally I don't agree but he has a point." said Fatality as she twisted the spear construct in his gut as Naruto held it with both hands to try and stop her. "I was actually expecting a much tougher fight."

To both of their surprises Naruto just chuckled as he raised his head. "Oh the fight hasn't started yet. I'm just stalling."

Fatality then noticed two things. The ring on his hand disappeared just like a construct would a construct would and then the young man started to glow. They had just managed to get their shields up before he blew up in their faces and sent them flying, landing a few feet away.

They both got up though Fatality managed to get up faster than her partner as he stood up next to her.

"What the hell? The little shit killed himself before I could take his head off." he said in indignation.

"No. He wasn't there to begin with." said Fatality. She turned and saw that there was a wire circling around his neck. Next thing she knew lightning traveled along it and Romat-Ru was soon convulsing as if he had a seizure at was being electrocuted with light coming from his body bright enough that she had to shield her eyes. When it was done all that was left of him was a burnt corpse that looked like him and the ring on his finger left to find another host.

She then turned and followed the wire to the Green Lantern that they thought they killed who seemed to shimmer into existence. He stood there as the wire construct disappeared.

"You tricked us." said Fatality

"Yes I did." said Naruto.

"After the explosion you cloaked yourself using your ring and created another one of your "clones" to replace you. After he was stabbed your other "clones" knew it to be the signal to disappear and all you had to do was wait for your moment to take out one of us. All the while using said "clone" to take out Ragnar." she deduced.

"I figured you would be the smart one of the bunch." said Naruto. "This battle is over. The Khundians are beaten. Not just here on the ground but I imagine in space as well. Surrender and the Sapphires will show mercy."

Fatality readied her spear. "I will never submit to a Green Lantern."

"Because of what happened to Xanshi?" he asked. She gave him a surprised look when he said her planet's name.

"Yes I know who you are Princess Yrra. I know what happened to your home world." said Naruto sadly.

"You don't call me that. To you and the rest of your accursed Corps I am Fatality. And I will not rest until I see you, John, and the rest fall before me." she declared pointing her spear at him.

"And will that help your conscience? Will all this help you in quelling the voices in your head?" said Naruto.

"I have no remorse for those who side with you." she said though Naruto could tell a hint of doubt that she was trying to hide.

"Betrassus is in the Frontier they had nothing to do with the Corps as a whole. You just attacked them because their Queen is one of us?" Naruto asked.

"No. Sinestro ordered it." she explained.

"And let me guess he said he would help you kill John Stewart. Make all the Lanterns pay for a stupid rookie mistake that he made when he was starting out. Even though we both know he did everything he could at the time." said Naruto.

"Shut up! You know nothing!" said Fatality as she had enough of her words and charged in. Naruto then quickly made a trident construct and blocked the strike that was made to the side. He then shrugged it off making her twist and hold the spear across her shoulders. Naruto also got into his stance crouched and ready to strike.

"I hit close to the truth didn't I?" he inquired with a smirk under his mask. Fatality then moved forward and made a stab at him which he blocked. From there it turned to a duel of clashing staffs as they twirled their weapons which each stab, pivot and slice at each other with neither gaining ground. **  
**

_'Kurama I think my initial suspicions were right. Her anger isn't solely on John. She's angry about something else.' h_ e said to his partner as he dodged a kick and another stab of her spear as sparks flew from the attack.

**'Not just anger. I'm sensing guilt from her as well. That is the source. She feels guilty for being the sole survivor of her world. It's blocked off her emotions. You need to focus on that. Be careful though she's tough.' s** aid Kurama.

The two warriors continued their onslaught on each other until they locked their weapons and pushed each other back. From there Fatality, dropped the spear end of her weapon and taped it on her foot to try and do an upper slash on his chin. He dodged it but could not block the kick to his abdomen. It knocked some wind out of him but he recovered enough to do duck under her swing, turning the trident he'd been using into a war hammer and slammed it into her sending at least ten feet away before she recovered.

"What's really the problem Yrra?" he asked using her real name. "We know it's not John that is the real cause of your issues. It isn't that that makes you go into battling every Green Lantern you see. That's just the excuse. So what is it really?!"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed as she threw her spear at him in frustration. He deflected it and decided to end it right there and now changing his hammer into a scythe and moving right at her. She made another spear and ducked his slice but didn't anticipate him slicing under her. It caught the middle of her weapon and managed to launch her into the air and fire a ring blast at her sending her out of the crater.

He then flew out as she landed on the ground with a thud and skidded across the field of dead and wounded Khundians. Naruto landed just a few feet in front of her. She spat out blood and faster than he anticipated she drew out two short blades and sliced at him with the one in her right hand. He moved to safety, but she managed to clip his cheek.

He rubbed the cut and made two kunai. The two then clashed again with more dazzling speed going to close corners and sparks really began to fly from their clashing blades.

Naruto though made sure that was going to be the only cut she had as he turned out to be faster than her and managed to get through her defenses and land two cuts on her cheeks, a cut to the rib section, and several on her legs. Nothing fatal as she managed to keep it from getting there but they still must have hurt her. And yet she still kept going. For almost an hour they went at it.

Naruto however could see that she was getting fatigued by her heavy breathing. Her attacks got slower as he pushed away with his hand dropping one of his kunai as she made a misstep from exhaustion. This to his eyes confirmed what he was thinking.

He then ducked under her latest strike and land a kunai deep into her shoulder. The pain making her go to her knees and dropping her weapons. Naruto then just stood there catching his own breath and looking at her. She then looked up at him.

"What are you waiting for!? Finish me! Kill me!" she called out. But it was in a tone that was hinted at desperation.  
_  
'She's begging me to do it.'_  he thought. However, he instead decided to kneel in front of her so they could talk face to face.

"Killing you won't bring your people back." he said. That was the core of it.

Soon after that her eyes started to tear. "Please...let me join my people. I can't take this anymore. Besides I led this mission. I caused all this death and destruction that led to this under the banner of Sinestro. I deserve it."

"Which is why I'm not going to do it. For one thing that is the easy way out. Since you lead this attack you have to take responsibility for it. Besides, you are the last of your kind. I won't be responsible for killing off a race." he then took a breath. "What happened to your world was a tragedy. And I know it has been lonely for you. But you need to let go of this anger you have as well as the guilt that has made it so. Look at where its lead you." he then motioned to the area of dead around him.

She looked and could not deny that in her madness she could not see how many people were being killed for something that they had no part in.

"This path you are on has to change course. And I know you don't think you deserve or even need it, but you are going to get a chance to do something good." he said. He moved behind her and struck her in the back of her neck knocking her out but catching her before she fell to the ground, and then picked her up and over his left shoulder.  
**  
****'You sure about this Kid?'** said Kurama.  
_  
'She doesn't need to die. Not like Romat-Ru. She has the potential to be better. She just needs to lose her anger and I think I know just the people who can do that.'_ Naruto responded.

He then flew over the crater and found Ragnar still on the ground unconscious. Tempting though it was he could not just leave him lying on the floor. So he used his ring to put him and a bubble and flew back to the capital.

The battle was over.

**(End Flashback)**

The rest of the report followed that soon after the battle Naruto returned to the capital city and from there Iolande declared that the battle had been won and Betrassus saved once again from destruction. After Naruto had ended the ground army Prime Magistrate Zilus Zox and Bleez, his second in command, arrived with some cruisers and in turn forced the other two destroyers to surrender. The Khundian's were allowed to take their dead and wounded on board their ships and jumped back to their homeworld with the warning to not try this stunt again anytime soon and to relay the same message to Sinestro and his Corps.

As for Ragnar and Fatality their fates could not be any different. Zilus himself came to Betrassus to further add that he did not order Ragnar to attack her home planet. And then right there in front of them all stripped him of his ring. The fallen prince screamed in pain but would live. It was clear that Zilus was trying to save face but Naruto had stated that he was telling the truth. In either case he just wanted the ring off the idiots hand and to someone else more competent.

Fatality, under Naruto's suggestion, was to be placed with the Star Sapphires on Zamaron for rehabilitation shockingly enough. Naruto had actually asked them to see if there was a way to help them. The Guardian's, Appa especially, would be against it but since Frontier space was Sapphire territory there was nothing they could do about it.

Hal smiled at that part.

As for Naruto himself Carol had been kind enough to open a portal that would take him back to Guardian space. Thanks to the upgrade that Aya made on their tech they could now open a portal without their needing to be a loved one involved. Iolande had asked if he wanted to stay as they mourned but also celebrated their victory but Naruto just wanted to go home, which they all understood. So he left after saying his farewells to Razer, getting a brief but fond introduction to Saint Walker and saying his farewells and thanks to Galea and Carol he was immediately back to Oa.

From there the Guardians wanted to interrogate Naruto as to how he managed to get to Frontier space never mind to Betrassus in the time that he did. He however said nothing on how he managed it, and even pointed out that if he hadn't done what he did then the planet would have fallen and the Sinestro Corps and the Khundians would now have Betrassus and its outlying planets under their thumb. Thankfully more than half the Corps agreed and were ready to step up to his defense which prompted both Ganthet and Sayd to convince them to drop it for now.

Still Ganthet had advised that Hal talk to the Justice League about letting another Green Lantern come to Earth. Naruto needed to be off Oa for a while. He already talked with Sayd to convince the council that it was time that Naruto stretch his wings on Earth. He knew Ganthet would be down on Ajnin to help convince Naruto of the needed change.

Hal agreed readily and not just because of the council trying to find out more about the young man. He went to Ferris Fields to check on her. He always did ever since she took the ring on a permanent basis. Not that he needed to she turned into a capable Sapphire. It's just that he loved her. If he could ever get his head out of his ass to just tell her and actually make a real effort of their relationship.

It was when she talked about Naruto that made the decision for him.

"Hal." she began in her office. "As a Star Sapphire I can look into someone's heart and see things about a person that I would not be able to other wise as you know already. When I shook his hand as he left I saw that young man's heart. It had the warmest feel that I've ever felt from someone in a very long time. But underneath that light, that warmth, I felt a sort of sadness about him. And that's something no one should have especially not him."

That on top of everything else is why he was above Ajnin right now. He pointed to his ring and made the call to Lady Tsunade.

A call that would once again put Naruto Uzumaki's life on a whole new course.

**(End Chapter)**

_I know I promised that this would be when he joins the team. It still is. But the chapter got so big with explaining the reason why Naruto needed to go Earth I had to cut it in half. I would like to apologize again for the piss poor update speed. But I want this story to be a good as it can be with my inexperience. Once again I'm sure there will be errors and such so please let me know of them. The last bit especially I don't about._

_Which brings me to something else. First off I am never going to abandon this story. I am making that clear now. No matter how long it takes this will continue. But I've also been thinking of maybe writing a novel, and actual book, on another idea I had. One that was going to be another fanfiction but has since evolved from that. So if hell I mean work doesn't kill me I want to try and write this thing._

_What this means is that I'm going to try and divide my time between this fic and the novel that I have this plan for. As I said though I will not abandon this story. Ever._

_One more thing though. I have to give a shout out to_ _AlphaLycan2001 for helping me with a serious plot issue I have been having. Thanks to him I know how a certain villain will play in with Naruto and his world._

_Thank you all again for you support. I honestly did not expect to get this much support and this many people liking this story. See you all next time for part two._


	10. Part 2: Join the Team

**(Konoha. Office of the Hokage)**

"I can't wait for this year to be over so I can retire." Tsunade said to herself while she sat alone doing the paper work once again. Though she did love being Hokage the one thing about the job that she hated was all the damn paper work she had to do. Especially in these more peaceful times. Sure there were still rogue shinobi out there and the occasional escort missions but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been in the past.

Just as she finished another document and was about to get to the next on in the mountain she saw her desk drawer light up with a green glow. She quickly then pulled it out.

_'Thank you kami!'_  she thought to herself as she pulled out the communicator with the Green Lantern symbol on it. It was given to her by Naruto when he first came back soon after his first month on the job. It was a way to communicate with him if something happened directly on Ajnin or if something important had happened on his homeworld. But the signal wasn't coming from Naruto's ring as far as she knew.

_"Hal Jordan to Konoha. Lady Tsunade are you receiving me?"_  said the voice of Hal Jordan which Tsunade recognized.

"Hal this Tsunade. How can I help you?" she asked speaking to the communicator.

_"Afternoon ma'am. I was wonder if Naruto was still on the surface in Konoha? Cause I haven't been able to reach him."_  Hal asked.

"Well last I checked he was in the Nara compound playing his monthly game of shougi with Shikamaru." said Tsunade

_"Then would you mind if I went down to the surface? There's something I need to discuss with him."_ he asked.

"I think he has an idea of what you're here about though he didn't tell me what it was Hal. You're granted permission to come down but I think I better go with you. Some of the villagers are still having some disbelief on this Green Lantern Corps or about just space in general." said Tsunade already getting up from her chair.

_"Good idea. I don't know my way around your village anyway. Especially since it got rebuilt. I will meet you outside your office."_  said Hal.

Tsunade put the communicator back the drawer and walked out the door. She then passed by Shizune.

"Shizune I'm going out. I won't be back til later in the evening so I'm leaving the paper work until tomorrow." she ordered.

"You already had a break today. It's not time yet for you to leave." Shizune admonished.

"Hal Jordan is here and we are going to see Naruto." she said. Shizune immediately became quiet when hearing that as the Hokage kept walking out.

_'Well at least I can get ready for my date with Iruka...'_ she thought to herself.

**(Nara Compound)**

Tsunade and Hal arrived to the Nara compound. At Tsunade's suggestion Hal was out of uniform and in his usual civilian attire of his old brown leather jacket, black t-shirt, jeans and work shoes to make him stand out less in the ground. He still was looked upon strangely but it was better than nothing.

As they walked to the entrance of the compound Hal took the time to briefly explain the situation. How Naruto had managed to make it to Betrassus and took the battle to the Khundians and the Sinestro Corps.

Though she was at first surprised at this news since Naruto didn't tell her anything about what goes on in his duties as Green Lantern often she had a small smile of pride on her face hearing this.

When they knocked on the door Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino, greeted them and escorted them to Shikamaru's room after Hal left his shoes at the door. She opened the door and saw Shikamaru sitting alone with his shougi board and saw that he seemed to be replaying a game on his own.

"Shikamaru stand at attention! The Hokage is here!" his mother ordered seeing that he ignored them when she opened the door.

The young Nara turned to see his Hokage waiting along with her guest and for once stood up to address them.

"Sorry Lady Tsunade. I didn't know you were coming. Did you have an assignment?" he asked.

"No Shikamaru. I actually came with Hal Jordan to find Naruto." said Tsunade.

Shikamaru turned to older man that was next to her. "Yeah we met. Didn't I trap you in my Shadow Possession Jutsu three years ago?"

"Yeah. You did." said Hal remembering how he was paralyzed from the young man's shadow.

"Well no hard feelings I hope." he said.

"None. Just glad we didn't end up having to kill each other." said Hal.

"In any case." said Tsunade getting back on topic from the brief moment of pride that Shikamaru made which was strange given his laid back nature. "I believed that Naruto was here in your family compound."

"He was. He just left about fifteen minutes ago. After our game of shougi he got contacted by a guy named Ganthet on his ring. He told this guy to meet him on training ground seven last I checked."

"Ganthet? I though he was still on Oa." muttered Hal. Tsunade on the other hand noticed how the shougi board was arranged and it looked like Shikamaru was playing by himself.

"Hal would you mind waiting for me outside the compound?" she asked. Hal nodded seeing as she wanted to discuss something with Shikamaru alone. His mother went with him as an escort.

"Are you replaying the game you and Naruto played Shikamaru?" she asked.

"Yeah I am actually." he said looking at the board.

"Don't tell me he actually beat you this month." she exclaimed in surprise.

"No but he almost did. That's the fourth time in the row he's almost beaten me. It's gotten to the point that now I have to keep replaying the game to keep my edge." said Shikamaru with a sigh. "Which is such a drag that I have to do that."

Tsunade has a smile on her face which the turned to a smirk.

"Then be prepared to a lot more of replaying in the future then I think." she said as she walked away.

"Hey!" the young Nara called out as he move to catch up. "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked in a panicked tone.

"Let's just say that our boy might be able to visit more than just once a month." she said again as she was escorted by his mother out of the compound.

Shikamaru sighed and looked back to the shougi board on in his room.

"Great. Now I'm gonna have to make a game plan in advance each time he visits." said Shikamaru as he sat down and went back to replaying his game.

"Though I guess I'm glad he took my advice." he said with a small smile.

**(Third Training Ground)**

Hal Jordan and Tsunade floated down from the bubble construct that Hal had made to the third training ground. As they did they spotted not only Naruto but Ganthet as well.

Ganthet was sitting in a cross-legged position enjoying the view of the mountains that the ground that came be most used by Team Seven. He had a serene and relaxed smile on his face. But it was not just from the scenery.

Naruto was next to the benevolent Guardian. However, he was not sitting on the ground. Instead, to both Hal and Tsunade's surprise he was sitting on a stool construct and playing a piano construct. And he was obviously good at it judging by the beautiful music he was playing.

Naruto soon finished his the song he was playing and was surprised when he heard the clapping of hands. He turned and found the source.

"Granny! Hal!" he exclaimed as he stood up. His constructs disappearing as his face turned red from embarrassment.

"Don't stop on our account kid. You were pretty damn good. Which song was that?" Hal asked.

"It was a song from Earth's Chopin if you must know." said Ganthet in a relaxed tone.

"I see now that it isn't just the wardrobe outside your uniform that has changed over the years Naruto." said Tsunade with a smirk.

She meant of course that the now tall nineteen version of him that now stood in a red hooded jacket with a black shirt underneath, cargo pants, and combat boots that now made him his civilian attire.

Around the same time after his first patrol both Hal and John had decided that Naruto needed to make sure he had another change of clothes after seeing the orange monstrosity that was his original look. So thanks to some help from Salaak who got his measurements both then and now correctly they managed to get him a more varied wardrobe.

Naruto of course protested at first. Until he noticed that he had not brought no other clothes outside what he wore when he first left for Oa. So he had no choice in the matter.

"I advised to him that he needed to take a hobby that didn't involve training or having to fight for his life on a daily basis. After weeks we tried going with music lessons. Not only did he seem to find peace in it but to my pleasant surprise that he actually seemed to have a natural talent for it. He plays it beautifully now every week when he's not on duty. On Mogo of course since he wishes to hide it." Ganthet explained with a growing smile.

"Did you have to explain all of it?" Naruto grumbled. Tsunade and Hal laughed at his response.

"Well at least you have something besides fighting to keep you occupied." said Hal. He then turned serious. "I'm guessing you told him about the plan we made for him to get off world." he said to Ganthet.

"He did." said Naruto in Ganthet's place.

"And what do you think of it?" he asked.

Naruto crossed his arms. "You mean aside from the fact that the council is a bunch of corrupt idiots who think it's their right to pry into every Lantern's business and try to learn their secrets?" he questioned. "No offense Ganthet I didn't mean to include you and Sayd."

"None taken Naruto. In fact I agree with you." said Ganthet. "Which is why it is important that you understand why this needs to be done."

"I know why it has to be done. They want to know how I managed to increase my ring's power on my own." said Naruto.

"Which has been a question on the mind of not just the Guardians but also just about everyone in the Corps. And some of them, though not many, are still loyal to the council." said Hal.

"My question is." said Tsunade getting involved. "Will Naruto be truly be safer on Earth?"

The other three looked a little sheepish.

"Safer would not be the word we would have chosen. Suffice it to say that there are some people on my home planet that give me pause to take on. But he would be off Oa hopefully long enough for this whole thing to blow over." Hal explained.

"And joining this team of younger heroes helps me how?" asked Naruto.

"The team needs more people with both experience and skill. You fit both of those and besides the most experienced of the group, Robin, is thirteen." said Hal. "And you could use more time in a group seeing as how you tend to be a lone wolf most of the time kid."

"I thought that was how the Corps was designed to be." said Naruto.

"That is something that needs further looking into." said Ganthet. "For now though it seems the most prudent course at the moment."

Naruto crossed his arms. "When would I have to be there?" he asked.

"Tomorrow. Batman, a member of the Justice League is giving the team its first official mission briefing then. I already told him to expect you there." said Hal. "Look Naruto-"

"My only real concern is who will be patrolling my sector. If I'm going to this I need to still be able to patrol it and make sure it's safe." said Naruto in a tone that said that he was agreeing to the deal. Although Hal could see that while Naruto did wish to protect his sector of space he was looking at Tsunade which stated he was worried for his home.

"I can arrange it that you will be on the team part time. That way you can still patrol it. That's the best I can do. Is that acceptable?" Hal asked.

Naruto nodded. "Very well. When do we leave for Earth then?"

"Tomorrow morning at eight hundred hours. It's already been a day already and Batman will need everyone on the team for the mission briefing...though we might be fashionably late." said Hal with a smirk.

"Uh pardon me for saying so since I'm completely out of the loop but if what you told me is true and Naruto is going to be on this planet instead of Oa won't he need some paper work or something to establish himself as having a life there?" Tsunade questioned.

"Not to worry Lady Tsunade" said Ganthet with a reassuring smile. "Salaak has already done work on making a profile for Naruto to use when he arrives on Earth. His documentation is complete and will be up and running as soon as he arrives."

"Good." said Tsunade who then narrowed her eyes at the young man in front of her. "Now would you both mind if I talked with Naruto alone for a bit?" she asked in a tone that told them that it was not a request.

Ganthet and Hal looked at Naruto who nodded. They both noticed that he seemed more than a little worried. And this was from a guy who faced an army and didn't flinch.

"Not a problem. Hal I think we should return to Oa for now don't you?" said Ganthet.

"Yep. See you back on Oa kid." said Hal as he changed back into his uniform. From there Ganthet had used his power of teleportation and they both disappeared.

'Thanks a lot guys.' he thought to himself.

**'Well maybe if you told more about what you do on your job this would not be happening.'** said Kurama.

'Not helping furball.' said Naruto looking at the angry Hokage.

"Look Granny-"

"Don't Granny me young man." she said pointing her finger at him. "Why is that I have to hear all of what happened from Hal Jordan and not you?"

"I didn't want you worry. I had the situation under control." said Naruto.

"Maybe the battle part but apparently not the fallout. It seems like this council of Guardians aside from Ganthet want to try and dissect you to find out more about how you managed to reach this planet. Which I can guess is from the fact that you happen to happen to be a Jinchuriki of Kurama." said Tsunade.

"Good guess." said Naruto. "What was I supposed to do? Iolande, the ruler of Betrassus, had sent a general distress call to any who could help. On top of that the planet has a population of two billion people. I wasn't going to just leave them to whatever Sinestro or her idiot of brother were going to do to it. I didn't care about the consequences of what may happen with the council and neither did Kurama."

"Alright you made your point." said Tsunade. "I would just like to be better informed is all. In case you didn't notice we all worry about you out there. Me and Iruka and the rest of your friends especially."

"Which is now missing one!" he yelled. Tsunade then saw him calm down and have that familiar look of guilt on his face.

"No one blames you for Neji's death." she said putting a hand on his shoulder

"Tenten said the same thing when I put flowers on his grave along with the flowers for Sakura." said Naruto turning so that he wouldn't look at her. But she grabbed both his shoulders to make her look at her. Or down at her now that he was almost a full head taller than her now.

"Then you need to listen more often. If anyone is responsible it's me. I sent him on that scouting mission where he was jumped by sixty skilled rogue ninja. He bled to death taking them out. He did his duty and you had other worlds under your charge that are worse off than we are now." she said.

All of which was true. Since the young lantern left Ajnin was continuing to make strides from the foundation that he had built. The Five Great Ninja Nations along with the Samurai had since built a kind of world government. They each now worked in a cohesive manner but still had sovereign rights to each of their own lands. And even then as the years continued they found it easier to work as one on many issues that had plagued their lands for years.

It was not perfect however as the Shinobi Alliance, as it was still being called currently, still had the constant issue of rogue ninja. Only now since the wars end the rogue's that were emerging were getting more and more desperate. The group that killed Neji was made up of the more rarely skilled rogues. One even had a variation of Haku's kekkei genkai. It was an ice needle jutsu that bled Neji slowly. Even his Rotation jutsu could not stop them all. He managed to kill the rogue and the group but he died shortly after.

The only consolation he got was that he lived to see the curse mark and its tradition of control on the branch families of the Hyuga clan finally end. He died a free man.

Tsunade let him go. "So this world they are sending you to is called Earth right?" she asked changing the subject.

Naruto nodded.

"Do you really think the council won't try anything while you're there?" she questioned again.

"I'll be honest with you Granny. I'm not so sure myself." said Naruto. "But I've read up on the heroes that inhabit this world and let me tell you there are some beings there that make what we can do with our jutsu's look like child's play. A couple of them that I read up on would give even me pause and would not consider fighting unless I had no other choice."

"Even if you used the Sage of Six Paths Mode?" she questioned surprised at Naruto's open admission that there were people that he felt as he was now he would lose against.

"Especially even then. And I have never been in a situation that requires me to use that much power. Both Kurama and I agreed that that mode should only be used as a last resort since we found out about the symbiotic relationship the ring has to our chakra network. The most we have ever used in the last three years is when we had to go to Betrassus." Naruto explained.

Tsunade nodded in agreement of his and the Tailed Beast's assessment

"Besides on top of that the council has an alliance with their organization which is called the Justice League which I guess you could say represents the best of them including the two I mentioned so I don't think they are going to mess with them." said Naruto.

"Well that's all well and good but I also understand that you'll be joining a team of your own." said Tsunade with a smirk on her face.

"Yes." he grumbled thinking that he would have to talk with Hal on how much information he should give out.

"At least you won't be alone and with people closer to your age and that are not from your home planet." said Tsunade.

"Yeah but they are a bunch of rookies in my opinion." he said.

"Weren't we all." said Tsunade. "In any case Iruka and the others are waiting at Ramen Ichiraku." she said. From there they started walking leaving the training ground.

"Hal also told me that the one member of the Sinestro Corps was a woman. Just out of curiosity she didn't happen to be attractive would she?" she asked.

Naruto sighed. "Can we please not have this conversation again?" he asked. Ever since he turned eighteen Tsunade, Iruka, Shizune and whoever asked if he was seeing anyone. To which Naruto continued to say no.

Tsunade knew that part of it was because of what happened with Sakura. Not her death as it seemed that he got over that but more likely the treatment of her to him. He seemed overly cautious when it came to the subject.

Tsunade raised her hands in defense and nodded as they continued their walk to the village.

'Its times like this that I sometimes miss when he was more a pervert.' she thought to herself. Though she was more than happy that Naruto had matured thanks to his time as a Green Lantern and Ganthet's teachings she did feel that Naruto was still not happy yet.

Something that she hoped would change soon.

**(Oa, the next day)**

Naruto, in full uniform with his scroll on his back, found Salaak at his usual post outside the Guardians council chambers with his control panel.

"Naruto." he greeted "Should you not be off to Earth soon?" the Clarissi asked.

"I told Hal to meet me outside the council chambers. I just wanted to meet you so I have everything identity wise squared away." said Naruto.

"Very well. I will pull it up in a moment." said Salaak indicating the other this on his screens that he was working on wither it was checking in on other sectors or communicating with other Green Lanterns.

"So when is it happening?" Naruto asked which shook the senior Lantern's concentration.

"Beg your pardon?" he asked.

"The questioning, the investigations. The ones you usually start. As I recall you've had it done on the Guardian's behest twice since I became the Green Lantern." said Naruto with a tired tone as he crossed his arms.

"Yes I am aware of this." said Salaak. He knew what he was talking about was the fact that since Naruto took up Space Sector 2813 it had, simply put, never been safer. No sector was without trouble but since that time after his first mission Naruto had done a stand up job. Not to say that the rest of the Corps didn't do good work but Naruto had proven himself a natural at his work.

Taking out criminal organizations, stopping raiders from attacking civilians, he even managed to stop wars between neighboring planets and more often than not he didn't even needed to use violence. The boy was as much a diplomat as he was a warrior. Some of it was the skills he acquired from Ganthet's training in politics and cultures but that only added to the young man's natural charisma and empathy.

Now at first Salaak could understand why the Guardian's, minus Ganthet and Sayd, were nervous at this rate of success since the last time they saw anywhere close to this was with Sinestro and it turned out he had enslaved his home planet of Korugar in his perverse way of keeping order. But after two investigations in two year reviews of his work Salaak had come to one conclusion.

The boy knew what he was doing.

"So when should I expect you to go for three years in a row of you and whoever of the minority that blindly believe to conduct the investigations and questions then?" he asked again. Salaak then had a small smile on his face.

"Actually you will be happy to know that there will be no investigation this time." he said as he pulled up a file on his computer that had Naruto's face on it.

"Wait." Naruto said holding up his hand. "No investigation. The Guardians aren't the least bit curious as to how I got to Betrassus as quickly as I did? You're not curious?"

"Oh no the Guardian's want to know very badly. And I am very curious myself." said Salaak. "But I also know that you have in the last three years proven to be an excellent Green Lantern. And this latest action of yours while against protocol saved many lives. In my mind that should put you up for a promotion for honor guard. And I told them this myself. But since they feel like being angry instead of thankful helping you set yourself up on Earth is the next best thing."

Naruto was dumbfounded at this. He was about to ask more but then Kurama decided to include himself in this matter.

**'Kid accept the miracle, say thank you, and move on. We have a schedule to keep.'** he grumbled.

Naruto decided to do what his partner suggested.

"Thank you Salaak." he said bowing his head in respect.

"You're welcome. Believe me I didn't feel like doing another investigation anymore then you do." he said.

Naruto smiled under his mask as Salaak explained what he had done.

Naruto's name would remain as his birth name was unique enough that no one or at least a very few had it. His profile would go on that he was born in Tokyo, Japan but his was place with a foster family who moved to the United States. He graduated high school at fifteen and at sixteen moved out of his home and moved to the University of Michigan when he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in the Piano. Salaak told Naruto that was Ganthet's idea which Naruto figured as much though he didn't consider himself that good at his hobby.

The final bit followed his financial accounting. Salaak had set up accounts in multiple places all over the planet in each bank just as it was done whenever he was off world. What surprised Naruto the most was the amount. Adding to the fact that he hadn't really spent any of his money since he stayed on Oa where everything food or otherwise was free in service the Corps he now had a total of sixty million dollars in the United States part of Earth alone. Salaak had already made arrangements for him to have an account on every bank on the planet.

After thanking him for his work Naruto left Salaak to continue his duties. Before he took off he saw a familiar face.

"Tomi-Fai." he called out. "Good to see you."

"You as well Naruto." she said with a soft smile on her face. Since Naruto had rescued the veteran from the clutches of Mallow and the now destroyed outpost in his sector Naruto had kept an eye on her and her recovery from her ordeal.

It had taken a year before Doctor Natu declared her ready for active duty. Since that time Naruto had also helped her readjust to life on Oa even including her with Arisia, B'dg, and Galius in the Dining Hall whenever they were on Oa at the same time. She soon became a member of his circle of friends even though she was a Green Lantern longer.

"Hal told me that you would be leaving for Earth soon. To get away from all the bureaucratic nonsense from the council." she said.

"Word travels fast. Especially from Hal." said Naruto with a roll of the eyes.

"You should know that regardless of how the council sees it and despite whatever curiosities we have everyone know that you did what you had to do to save Betrassus." said Tomi-Fai.

"Really?" Naruto questioned. "Even the council loyalists like Boodika?"

"Yes even her...though she's too proud to admit it…" she said with a frown. "What you did though probably hasn't gone unnoticed though and I'm not just talking here on Oa. No doubt Sinestro is going to be looking to take you out now. Between this, you protecting your sector as well as you have, and...saving me three years ago you have grown quite the reputation around the universe." she said.

Naruto notice that last bit she flinched at the memory of her being a prisoner but decided to leave the matter be for now.

"Yeah that why Hal wants me on Earth. To try and get this heat off me. Don't think it will work though. I tend to make enemies rather easily." he said.

"And friends." Tomy-Fai pointed out. "And the latter is in the higher majority."

Naruto smiled at that. "Thanks. Well I better get going. Don't want to be too late for my arrival."

"Yeah. Be careful young lantern." she said.

Naruto nodded and flew off towards the outer atmosphere to meet his escort. But instead of Hal he saw John Stewart up there meeting him.

"John." he greeted. "I thought the plan was for Hal to meet me here so we could get going to your home world."

"He went ahead to make sure you would get access to the Zeta-Tubes which in turn would give you easy access to the Cave where the team is right now getting ready for their first mission briefing." John explained.

"Zeta-Tube?" he asked unfamiliar with that term.

"You'll see when we get there." said John with a smile on his face as they both flew out at best speed, John's and the rest of the Corps version that is, and headed to Earth.

'Gee I wonder why he wanted to be the escort for you?' said Kurama in a sarcastic tone for his rhetorical question that both he and Naruto knew the answer to.

They then both decided to get to it as they just flew out of the atmosphere of Oa.

"She will better for it." he said out of the blue.

"Who?" John asked with a confused look.

"Yrra." said Naruto using Fatality's true name. When John visibly stiffened as he flew Naruto pressed on.

"I let her live because I could see the pain that she was suffering and the anger she had at herself for surviving her planets fate. She didn't need to die she needed to heal." he said knowing that he would ask why.

"Thank you for that." he said with relief in his voice. "Most others would have killed her outright in that battle you were in."

"I'm not most others. And you should learn to forgive yourself for what happened." said Naruto.

"I destroyed her home planet Naruto. I was young and stupid and it cost Fatality everything." said John.

"Yrra is her name. And you need to let go of that pain as well." he lectured. "Otherwise it will just fester."

John and Naruto were silent for the remainder of their trip. But it did leave something for John to think on.

**(Mount Justice)**

The Team that comprised of Superboy, M'gann aka Miss Martian, Kaldur'aum aka Aqualad, Dick Grayson aka Robin and Wally West aka Kid Flash were waiting in main hall of the Cave with Batman and Red Tornado.

They were still in their civilian attires given this was a mission briefing and they would prepare afterwards. The one exception would be Superboy given that he always wore the same clothes in and out of missions.

Wally who was munching on a bag of chips decided to speak.

"So are we going to get this briefing started or what?" he asked.

"Momentarily. We're still waiting on your new member of the Team to enter before we get started." said Batman.

"New member?" said Dick conveying the Teams surprise at getting someone new so soon. "Who?" he asked.

"Recognized. Green Lantern. Authorization 05." said the computer with the Zeta-Tube having Hal Jordan of Earth appear out of it. He then activated a holographic control panel and typed in a command.

"Access Granted. Naruto Uzumaki. Authorization A14." said the computer using a guest designation.

Out appeared Naruto in his civilian attire with his hands in his jackets pockets with his scroll on his back looking a little bewildered and suddenly appearing to a new place.

"That was interesting." he said looking back at the Zeta-Tube. "Fast though."

"Easy access to the cave too. We'll make sure you get a permanent access code." said Hal. They then both turned to the team. "Hey guys. I like you all to meet Naruto Uzumaki." said Hal.

Naruto waved in response as the others gathered towards him.

"Hi I'm M'gann. This Superboy, Kaldur, Dick, and Wally." she introduced.

"Welcome to the Team." said Kaldur holding out his hand for which Naruto shook.

"Thanks." he said with a small smile. "Sorry to keep you all waiting I was talking with John in the Watchtower before coming here."

"He took you to the Watchtower? Why did he take you there?" Batman asked suspiciously since the Watchtower was meant to be, at least by his standards, a secret. He already had this issue with Oliver he didn't need anyone else talking about it.

"Because it was the nearest Zeta-Tube and it was faster than going through the docking bay door." said Naruto with a shrug that meant that it should have been obvious.

Batman was silent for a moment and turned to Red Tornado.

"A logical conclusion." said the android in his monotone voice.

"We'll talk about this later." said Batman to Hal. "For now let's get started with the briefing."

He then led the team to the center of the hall again and activated a holographic map of and island.

"East Santa Prisca." he began. "This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous, addictive and illegal neo-steroid. The street name for this strength enhancing drug is called Venom. Infrared has shown the plant is still operating at full capacity but all shipments have inexplicably stopped. That is where this team comes in."

"So this is strictly recon right?" Naruto guessed.

"Yes." said Batman "Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to get involved we will." he turned back to the map of the island as it showed two locations. "The plan involves two drop zones."

"So who's in charge?" Dick asked.

Batman and Red Tornado glanced at each other for a moment.

"Work that out between you." said the Dark Knight.

Dick nodded with a smile on his face.

**'Oh he's not looking to be the leader. Not at all.'**  Kurama said sarcastically. Naruto agreed with his partner's.

"So I take it we have to also teach the new kid what's what then?" said Wally after finally finishing his bag of chips and throwing them in a trash can. "I'm assuming he at least knows our abilities and stuff?"

"I'm standing right here." said Naruto. "And to answer your question I knew who and what all of you were before you introduced yourselves."

Naruto had decided to familiarize with each of their profiles while in the Watchtower using his ring. Nothing invasive and certainly nothing that Batman would trace as John and Hal had warned him when he did it.

Batman left via Zeta-Tube gesturing for Hal to follow him.

"Good luck guys. And Naruto keep on them alright." he said before following. Red Tornado flew back to his chambers above.

"What are you some kind of supervisor or something for the League?" Dick questioned

"No like they said I'm your new team member. Part time at least." said Naruto.

Dick glared at him but he, Kaldur and Wally left to their chambers to gear up.

Naruto saw that M'gann had already changed into her uniform as Miss Martian via shape shifting.

"So can I assume you two know where the docking bay is?" he asked.

"We live here so yeah we do." said Superboy.

"Follow us." said M'gann with a smile.

"On the way could you guys show me a room I can put my stuff in?" he asked gesturing to his scroll. M'gann nodded again.

After they found him a room that was up to what he wanted Naruto followed them to the docking bay where M'gann's bioship was. Naruto took a moment to look at it.

"She's beautiful." said Naruto.

_'Used to seeing more of the machine type ships. Never seen one that was organic before.'_  he thought to himself.

**'Just be careful. These things tend to have some level of intellect.'**  said Kurama.

Soon after they arrived Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad appeared ready.

"So now we have not one but two people who prefer being in civvies rather than costumes." said the young speedster.

"I don't need tights. My shirt does fine." Superboy grumbled.

Kaldur decided to move in to keep it from going to a useless argument.

"Naruto I don't want to sound offensive but we each know what our abilities and we all know what we can bring to this team in terms of powers and skill sets. I believed I speak for all of us when we just want to know about you and what you can do." he said.

"Understandable given I just got here." said Naruto. "Well for starters I got this." he then pulled his hands out of his pockets and showed his Green Lantern ring.

"Okay look pal I get that you're a fan of the Green Lanterns and all but we don't need you to-" said Kid Flash thinking it was some toy or tribute to the heroes.

That stopped the minute the ring glowed around Naruto with light bright enough that the others had to cover their eyes.

When the light dimmed there stood Naruto in his full Green Lantern uniform.

Needless to say that they were surprised to say the least. Wally mouth was hanging open with a very comical look on his face.

"You-You're-" he stuttered

"What?" questioned Naruto? "You guys act as if you haven't seen a Green Lantern before." said Naruto as he moved into the ship. "You can ask me any questions you want but right now we need to get moving."

Aqualad was the first to shake off his surprise and from there the team quickly got on board the bioship.

"From what little we have heard of the Green Lantern Corps we were not aware that they take protégé's." he stated.

"We don't. I was trained and given a Space Sector just like Hal, John and everyone else in the Corps. Mine is Sector 2813." said Naruto as he sat down at one of the chairs that the ship produced.

"So that means your...not human?" asked Superboy.

"Correct. My species is humanoid just like Kryptonians and Martians are." said Naruto. This got both Superboy and M'gann to smile knowing that was another alien among the Team.

"So what are you doing here then?" asked Robin.

"How about we save more thorough investigations after the mission." Naruto stated already getting the impression that he was trying to get as much information on him as possible.

"Agreed." said Aqualad with a tone of finality.

As they lifted off with Miss Martian at the helm Naruto started thinking to himself.

_'These guys are just kids.'_

**'You're not that much older than them. On this planet you're barely a legal adult.'**  Kurama pointed out.

_'You know what I mean. Sure from what I read on their profiles they have skills and potential but compared to me and the rest of my friends on Ajnin they are bunch of rookies. And I've done missions like this during my patrols and such. I can do this mission on my own.'_  Naruto replied.

**'Yes you can. But it still nice to be part of a group that can help out even if they are less experienced then you. Robin there will be a good compliment for you stealth wise and the rest of the group can help with escape or if we get into a fight. Beside it stuff like this that helped you when you were inexperienced.'**  Kurama pointed out.

Naruto took a breath.  _'Yeah your right. My main concern though is that this is officially their first op as a team. And we still don't have a leader yet.'_

**'Nice to see you concerned about that little fact.'** said Kurama.

**'Don't start I got enough of it from Granny I don't need you harping me on It.'**  said Naruto. Kurama just smirked.

"We are approaching Santa Prisca." said M'gann as she activated the ships cloaking ability.

"So Greenie we know that Green Lanterns can make constructs from their rings but I'm guessing you got your own skill set to match. Anything we need to learn before we hit drop zone A?" said Kid Flash with a new found curiosity.

"Well I'm a highly trained and skilled close range combatant. Along with that I happened to be particularity good when it comes to stealth." said the young Lantern.

"Since when do Green Lanterns know anything about being stealthy?" said Wally being skeptical.

"Since I joined them actually." said Naruto.

Robin kept quite during this as he saw the island. Mainly because he was eager to prove that his ability as a leader of the team. That did not mean however he was not listening and he figured Batman would like to hear more of this.

Naruto had then told Wally to be ready as he now knew Robin was listening.

"Approaching Drop-Zone A." said M'gann.

Aqualad then moved to a hole that was made in the center of the ship after activating the Stealth-Tech in his suit. From there he dropped into the water below.

The ship continued to move to the next drop zone. Minutes later they got a call on their earpieces from the Atlantian.

"Heat and motion sensors are now on a continuous loop. Move in." he said.

From there they hovered above the drop zone. Harnesses appeared for Robin and Kid Flash as the speedster activated his Stealth-Tech on his suit.

"Check it out." he said showing off to Miss Martian in an obvious attempt to impress her.

"Very impressive." she said. She then transformed her uniform from it's almost school girl suit to a full body suit that resembled her uncle's.

"That works too." said the speedster. "Hey Supey, Greenie, not too late to go for the new Stealth-Tech."

"I'm good." said Naruto.

"No capes. No tights. No offense." said Superboy with his arms crossed.

"It totally works for you." said M'gann with a certain fondness in the tone as she looked at him. She then had her hands up realizing what she was saying.

"In that you could totally do good work in those clothes." she said with a thumbs up. Seeing his indifference to what she was saying Miss Martian just pulled her hood over her face and cloaked to hide her embarrassment.

**'So kid too fast is attracted to the Martian but the Martian is obviously head over heels with Superboy but she's too shy to do anything about it yet.'** said Kurama. Naruto also noticed how she reminded him of Hinata.

The ship opened. Robin and Kid Flash used the harnesses to land on the ground and Miss Martian floated to meet them while still cloaked. Superboy however decided to drop down without a harness. Naruto decided to fire an energy beam and circled around his waist and set him down as he himself floated down to with team.

"I didn't need you to carry me down. I didn't need a harness." the Boy of Steel grumbled.

"I know that. But making a small earthquake from the landing doesn't exactly help us with the covert part." the shinobi pointed out.

Superboy frowned a bit but knew he was right and decided to just stay silent.

M'gann then took the time to contact their missing teammate.

"Aqualad Drop-Zone B is a go." she said.

"Head to the factory. I'll track you GPS and rendezvous with you ASAP." he responded.

"Roger that." said Robin as he was kneeling using his computer to find the quickest course to the factory on the map.

They soon began their trek through the jungle with Robin, Superboy, and the Flash moving on foot while Naruto and Miss Martian flew low with them. Robin was in front as they traversed the territory passing through the back side of a waterfall. After crossing that Naruto noticed that Robin was looking at his portable computers map again.

"Did you hear that?" Superboy asked suddenly as he looked behind them which made the other three stop.

"No." said Kid Flash "Wait is this a super hearing thing?"

"You do have great ears." said M'gann.

_'Oh kami.'_  Naruto said to himself before turning to see that Robin was gone. Kid Flash was the second to notice when he turned to ask him what to do next.

"Man I hate it when he does that." he said with irritation.

"He blended himself in the shadows. Most likely thinking us to do the same." said Naruto.

"And you would know this how?" said the speedster.

"Because that's shinobi training 101. I do the same thing but normally only when I'm missions on my own not in a group."

Before either of them could ask Aqualad called.

"Superboy Kid. Switch to infrared to see if you're being tracked." he said.

Kid put on his goggles. Using them in infrared he saw a group of armed guards moving in a forward position.

"Squad of armed bozos heading our way." he said.

"Make that two squads. But they'll meet each other before the meet us." said Superboy using his infrared vision.

Immediately afterwards they heard the sound of automated gun fire.

"Don't need super hearing now." said Kid Flash.

"We should move around them to steer clear of them." said Naruto.

"Yeah as soon as I find Rob." said Kid Flash as he ran ahead of them.

"No wait!" Naruto called out but it was too late to catch him as he ran ahead. "He do this often?" he asked his fellow teammates.

"Yeah." said Superboy.

"When he shouldn't." said Miss Martian.

"Great. Come on, let's save his ass." said Naruto knowing how muddy and slippery the mud trail that Wally just ran on and the slope would make him fall on his butt.

He flew ahead of Superboy and M'gann with them close behind. He moved to see that the gunfire had stopped and just like he predicted Kid Flash was on the ground with a gun pointed at his head by a large guy in a mask.

He assumed that he was the leader of his group as he immediately started firing at him. Wally managed to dodge the shots fired in front of him as Superboy tackled the masked man to the ground.

Naruto then moved behind Kid as the speedster ran into the other group who were dressed red cloaks with black mask. The design of their outfits appeared like snakes with deep red hoods and fanged masks. Naruto immediately put a shield in front of Kids back. From there he moved in and took out two of them with a punch and side kick while using kunai constructs to destroy their weapons.

The masked man managed to get Superboy in an arm hold on the ground after escaping his tackle but the young man powered out of the hold and threw him into a tree knocking him out.

Robin jumped down from the trees taking out two more from the masked man's group.

"What is wrong with you guys!? Why didn't you follow my lead vanishing into the jungle?" he questioned.

Kid Flash had just finished pummeling another guy and finishing him off with a flip kick.

"That was plan? Way to keep us informed we're not mind readers." he said before seeing M'gann use her telekinetic power to send two goons into a tree. "Well I'm not."

"You told me I could only read the bad guys mind." said M'gann

One of the masked group was running away but did not get far as Naruto punched him in the gut which caused to gasp and then pass out right in front of Aqualad. He then saw the radio and crushed it beneath his foot.

"How about we tie these guys up. In the meantime would someone fill me in on who they are? I only had time to get you guys profiles not anyone in the enemy category." he said as he grabbed using the ring to make bubbles of the downed foes.

As they tied them up Aqualad filled him in on the who's who. The masked man was named Bane. He was actually one Batman's deadliest enemies nearly killing the dark knight on more the one occasion even breaking his back. And he was the head of the Venom producing industry and this factory had belonged to him.

Had being the operative word given that the opposition in snake costumes was called the Cult of the Kobra. Their leader Kobra, which Naruto found to be more than a little stupid, was worshiped by them as a god.

_'Thankfully Orochimaru isn't around then_ _. These guys would go nuts in the worship department if they saw him.'_ Naruto thought.

"I am sure Batman would have mentioned it if he knew that a dangerous extremist group had gotten hold of Santa Prisca and running the Venom operation." he said.

"Agreed." said Robin. "And since there's no love lost between them I'm guessing Kobra kicked Bane and his people out. That's why normal supply lines have been halted."

"We get it okay." said Kid Flash. "Kobra wanted super cultists. Radio Batman and we'll be in time for-"

"If they were using Venom, a potent steroid, why didn't we encounter them instead of ones who used guns?" Naruto questioned before answering it himself. "They aren't using it they are hoarding it."

"He's right. We don't leave not until I know why." said Robin

"Until you know why?" Kid questioned.

"This team needs a leader." Robin stated.

"And that's you? Dude you're a thirteen year old kid who ducked out on us without a word." Kid stated.

Robin laughed at that. "And you're a mature fifteen? You blew our cover the first chance you got!" Robin fired back.

**'And here comes the arguing on who should be in charge.'**  Kurama observed.

_'Uh huh. This could take a while.'_ said Naruto with his arms crossed.

**'You know you could just take over and be the leader kid. I mean if this was a ninja team that needed a jounin that would be you right now**.' said Kurama.

_'You know how I feel about being a leader. I do better not being the guy in charge._ ' Naruto responded.

Kurama grumbled but said no more.

"How long do you think it will take for them to finish arguing?" he asked Aqualad.

"A while but not for too long I hope." said Aqualad. "It still begs the question on who should lead. Any thoughts?" he asked.

**'Deja vu.'**  Kurama said with a smirk on his face.

"I just got here so I'm not putting my name in that hat." said Naruto. "We'll see how it goes."

He then turned to Superboy who after saying something to make M'gann smile and blush seem to close his eyes as if he were hearing something with his ears. He then turned to see Bane talking to one of his men in Spanish.

Using his ring he keyed in on the conversation.

_"Look at them argue. Free yourself and take them while they are distracted."_  said the hireling.

_"Quiet!"_ Bane ordered.  _"I will play along. They will give me what I need."_

Superboy and Naruto smiled after he finished.

"Don't trust Bane. He's planning to use us to try and get his factory back." said Naruto to Aqualad moving towards Robin and Kid Flash. He then put gags on their mouths.

"Enough arguing. I'd like to get this job and get back. I haven't slept since I got on this team." he said. He then removed their gags.

Bane took the bait and started laughing.

"Such clever Niño's. But you only know half of the story. Let me show you the rest by getting you into the factory via my secret entrance." he said.

"He does have a secret entrance." said Miss Martian. "But he's hiding something." she then has her eyes glow white. An indication that she was trying to look deeper.

"Ah ah ah Chika. Bane is not so easy." he says with a smile.

At this same time Naruto hanged back from the group and started making hand signs.

"Ugh! He's reciting football scores in Spanish. This could take a while." say Miss Martian.

"It's not complicated. The enemy of enemy is my..." he stared to say before suddenly a swirling ball of air appeared around his head.

Confusion soon turned to panic as the same ball around Bane's head started to draw air from his mouth. Bane soon found it harder and harder to breathe as whatever it was that was surrounding him was sucking the air out of his lungs.

"He's suffocating!" said M'gann.

They didn't know what was going on until Superboy turned and saw their newest team mate with his hand raised clenching into a fist.

"What are you doing to him!?" he yelled as he reached out to stop him. Just as he grabbed his wrist Naruto released his hand. Instantly the ball of air disappeared and all the air that was sucked out of him went back into Bane's lungs. He was coughing while trying to absorb the air back in.

"Showing him that he is not in control." said Naruto as he walked past the others and knelled in front of Bane.

"Listen to me pal. I know you think that you have a plan to try and get your factory back. So here's a newsflash for you." he started then slapped his hand across his captive's face. "Hey! I'm talking pay attention!" he yelled. With Bane now looking directly at him Naruto continued.

"You're not going to get it back. Way I see it you have two choices. One you tell us where this secret entrance and then we will leave you here tied up while we take a look around in what was your factory. Or two I do what I just did again and this time I don't stop. So what is it going to be?" he questioned.

Bane was never the type to scare easily. But seeing this Green Lantern's eyes he knew that if push came to shove he would do as he promised.

Needless to say Bane told them what they wanted to know.

They traveled in silence until they approached the place that Bane spoke of where the entrance was. It was on a hill that gave them a good vantage point of the factory.

"You didn't have to do that you know." said Kid Flash.

"And that would be?" Naruto asked.

"Threaten to kill him. I don't know how you did things before but here we don't kill." said Robin as he got his binoculars ready to see was going on.

"If I wanted to kill him suffocation would not be how I would do it…" said Naruto matter of factly.

"Wait you were bluffing him?" asked Superboy.

"In a manner of speaking." said Naruto. "And from what I heard Batman has done it before so don't tell me how to do my job. Especially since it kept us from falling into a potential trap."

"And just how did you do whatever you just did? It seemed like you just controlled the air around him and took the air from his lungs. None of the other Green Lanterns I've seen can do that." Robin asked again.

"Trade secret." said Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.

Robin stayed silent and moved to look at the activity below.

"A buy is definitely going down but if Kobra isn't selling to the usual suspects..." Robin said.

"We need to identify that buyer." said Aqualad.

"Just what I was thinking." said Kid Flash.

"Yeah. You're the thinker." said Robin sarcastically.

"Sarcasm? Dude a real leader would look for answers." said Kid Flash.

Naruto used his ring to move the boulder out of the way of the entrance of that lead into the factory.

"I believe answers are this way." said Naruto moving ahead of the group.

"So now the potential crazy person is leading us?" Wally guessed to which Robin answered with a punch to his arm. "Ow!"

They moved to the tunnel until they got to a door. Pushing the button on it the door opened to another corridor. Opening that door a crack Naruto and Robin looked to see if it was good to go.

"All clear." said Robin moving to go on ahead before he was suddenly grabbed by Naruto and brought back inside.

"What are you doing!?" he yelled.

"Keeping you from doing another disappearing trick. We getting this straightened out now." said Naruto letting him go. "We already had one incident where you left without telling us and it cause Kid Flash here to break cover."

Robin was about to protest but realized that Naruto was right.

"You may have the most experience and that may have been the flaw with you trying to lead this team. With you and Batman your roles are defined you don't need to talk. But this team is new. And a leader must be clear. It cannot function on an unknown plan that the other members do not know of." Aqualad explained.

"Oh so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?" Robin questioned.

"Yeah that's the simple version of it anyway." said Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders.

Robin took a moment to collect himself. He then sighed after taking a breath.

"Who am I kidding? You guys are right." said Robin with a smile. "You should lead us Kaldur. You're the only one who can."

"Please I could run circles around-"

"Wally come on!" said Robin interrupting Kid Flash's tirade. "We both know he's the one we all do. Even the new guy can see that."

Aqualad looked to Naruto.

"You're the only one here that seems to be keeping focus on the mission so yeah you're the obvious choice." said Naruto with a small smile under his mask.

"Hello M'gann it so obvious." said Miss Martian.

"Could have told you that one." said Superboy.

Kid Flash hesitated for a moment before smiling and crossing his arms. "Okay."

Aqualad then walked up to Robin.

"Then I accept the burden. Until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now but soon." he said.

"Well it was either you or the Green Lantern." said Robin. Naruto coughed to get it off that topic.

"Now that we have cleared up the chain of command...what's the plan?" he asked.

"Robin and Kid Flash with go and retrieve the Intel. The rest of us will stay down here and observe the shipments being moved and hopefully find out who the buyer will be." he explained.

"Funny I was just thinking the same thing." said Robin.

The group then left the hallway and entered the factory. From there the two longtime friends moved into the control tower with Robin using a Batarang which landed on a console next to a Kobra working on the computer. It hit him with knockout gas and from there Robin started hacking in with Kid Flash standing next to him eating a snack that he had in his glove.

Aqualad, Naruto, Superboy, and Miss Martian sat hidden behind some factory equipment watching Kobra taking Venom packages.

"A buy's going down alright but their only taking new product. No one is touching the old Venom." said Superboy.

"Maybe freshness counts?" said M'gann jokingly.

"Or maybe there's something different about the batch they are giving." said Naruto.

"Helicopter coming." said Superboy hearing the rotors of it coming to the landing pad.

"Miss Martian look above and find out who the buyer is." said Aqualad. Miss Martian immediately cloaked and flew out of the entrance of the factory.

"Radio's out." said Naruto suddenly as he was tapping the communicator in his right ear. "They must have put a jamming net around the place when they knew the buyer was coming."

"Then we'll have Miss Martian link us up telepathically." said the new leader.

_'Kurama.'_ Naruto called his partner.

**'Don't worry she won't know I'm here. As long as it's just talking our secret is safe.'**  said the fox.

_"Everyone online?"_  M'gann asked.

Everyone gave their confirmation.

_"Good. Robin and I just found out that the Venom is actually Kobra Venom. Which is a combination of Bane's formula from the Blockbuster formula from Cadmus. It's three times stronger than normal venom and permanent._ " said Wally.

_"And Sportsmaster's the buyer. I just got the image of him from Miss Martian."_  said Aqualad. "But Kobra could not have gotten the formula from Cadmus not without help."

_"Which means that this Sportsmaster is also the supplier and is using Kobra to make a new super formula. But my guess is that he's just a pawn of something bigger cause I doubt neither of them have the pull to do this on their own."_  Naruto said.

_"And neither of them have the brains to combine the two formulas. That takes major nerdage."_ said Kid Flash.

_"The phrase here would be that this is the tip of the iceberg. But at the moment we need to stop that shipment."_  said Aqualad.

_"Finally."_  said Superboy pounding his fist into his hand.

_"Here's the plan then."_ said Aqualad.

**(Minutes Earlier)**

M eanwhile at the landing bay Sportsmaster accompanied by Shimmer were meeting with Sportsmaster.

"Kobra." the masked man greeted.

"Sportsmaster." Kobra responded. "The shipment is ready." he said.

From there Shimmer presented just a few of the purple vial inside a case. Sportsmaster took one out to inspect it.

"The new Kobra Venom?" he questioned.

"A complete success." Kobra said gesturing to Shimmer's massive brother Mammoth.

"This is a game change changer." said Sportsmaster sending it into the air. "Finally we can go one on one with the-" he was about to finish when a beam of green energy destroyed the vial before it landed in his hand again.

They turned to see Superboy, Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and, to their surprise, a Green Lantern that they did not recognize.

"If you think that crap is enough to face the Justice League then why don't you try to take us." said Naruto as he lowered his ring hand and gestured for them to attack. Kid Flash ran past the group as they disperse

"Take the shipment and leave." said Kobra to Sportsmaster. Following his advice he turned to leave and just managed to get to the chopper before Superboy leaped from his position and landed causing a shock wave that knocked five soldiers away from him.

Mammoth turned to look at Superboy.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked. Mammoth roared and charged at the young man only to find himself slammed by large host of water.

"Sorry not in the plan." said Superboy with a smile as Aqualad used his Water-Bearers as he focus his magic to pour water from a water tower at the large villain.

Supeboy's smile was short live as Sportsmaster returned and was using a laser crossbow and firing it at him. He knew it wouldn't kill him but it would keep the young Kryptonian from destroying the helicopter.

Little did he know that M'gann, while still cloaked floated inside it.

Kid Flash was taking out Kobra goons left and right which left Naruto and Robin to take on Kobra and Shimmer.

"I got baldy if you get the red head." Naruto suggested.

"Alright but just because you asked nicely." said Robin.

Kobra gestured for Shimmer to do the same. From there he and Naruto stood alone.

"You don't seem to be the type to get your hands dirty." said Naruto cracking his knuckles.

"True." said Kobra before taking off his cloak leaving his well-toned body bare. "But sometimes even a god must stoop to conquer."

"Please. I know someone who is far more worthy of being a god to this cult then you." said Naruto getting into a stance.

"I doubt that. But you do have an advantage over me." said Kobra with his arms crossed behind him.

"Don't worry. My ring will not be used." said Naruto.

Kobra smiled at that thinking without his ring that the boy was helpless. That changed quickly when a fist shot at him out of nowhere and slammed into his face forcing him to step away.

Naruto moved forward to continue. Kobra managed to use the moment to block the right cross and tried to counter with a spinning back kick to the head. The young Lantern dodged it and backed way with Kobra entering a fighting stance. He then charged with a kick that landed on Naruto's chest. He was forced away but turned it into a flip to recover. From there it was the two skilled warriors that fought even.

However, there was a clear difference as none of the blows that Kobra landed hurt Naruto in any way that seem to fatigue up. In contrast Kobra was starting to breath hard, had several bruises and was bleeding from the lip.

"Is that all you got? I mean your good but I've faced better." said Naruto.

Angered at this Kobra attacked again with left side kick to which Naruto blocked it. Kobra then used the momentum to land his right elbow to Naruto's face momentarily dazing him. He then made a right cross but Naruto recovered enough to punch the inside of his arm not breaking the bones but severally harming the ligaments and muscles beneath. From there he pounded on Kobra's chest with a series of punches that broke four of his ribs, kicked him in the right knee that sent him kneeling and spinning into an uppercut that sent the mad cultist leader flying.

Kobra landed on the dirt hard but managed to get up though his right leg buckled. Immediately following that they saw the helicopter, which had managed to get into the air, explode and plummet with Sportsmaster jumping out of it with a parachute.

"So glad that Bane left explosives in his control room." said Naruto looking at M'gann and Superboy who both had smiles on their faces though Superboys clothes were a little worse for wear.

"That's my cue." said Naruto snapping his fingers. From their Kobra looked on as the factory exploded into cinders via Naruto's exploding tag constructs that were laced inside.

Needless to say Kobra was pissed

"I am plagued by mosquitoes!" he yelled. From there the rest of the team gathered around Naruto.

"Shimmer is nice and tied up. Put a good fight though." said Robin rubbing his shoulders.

Kobra realized that the odds were not in his favor. Not in fighting this new Green Lantern and certainly not fight the rest of this team.

"Another time then."he said as he limped toward the shadows but was soon stopped when Naruto used his ring to put binding cuffs on both his arms and legs.

"There isn't going to be a next time. Cause you're going to jail." said Naruto

All Kobra could do was stare at them hatefully before Naruto knocked him out with a punch and hefted him on his shoulder.

"Way to go new guy." said Wally.

The team then gather around the center of the launch pad to look upon their work.

"We definitely picked the right guy to lead." said Robin with confidence to Aqualad. "Making you the perfect guy to explain this mess to Batman." he finished laughing with relief.

"Can we do that tomorrow I think we're all tired." said M'gann

"Agreed. There's a bed in my new room and I intend to use it. After I drop him off to a jail cell. Any place in particular?" said Naruto. M'gann called the Bioship while Naruto hanged back with Aqualad waiting for instructions.

"I suggest using Belle Reve. Its a prison used to house super criminals. I believe Kobra would qualify."

Naruto nodded.

"You did well as leader." said Naruto being serious.

"And you did well working with the Team." said Aqualad joining the others.

'Maybe this team has potential after all.' said Naruto.

'Yeah. Though something tells me that this is only the beginning.' said Kurama.

Naruto thought the same.

**(Mount Justice, July 23, 10:01 EDT)**

"A simple recon mission. Observe and report." said Batman right to Kaldur's face as the team were in the main hall of the cave in civilian clothes.

"Which we would have if they hadn't thrown a jamming net around the factory. Since we couldn't we took the best action possible to stop that shipment. And on top of that Kobra is now sitting in a nice cozy prison cell in Belle Reve with your government's agents lining up to question him." said Naruto defending his new allies. Batman stood there in silence for a minute before pacing before them tabling that outburst for now.

"You'll each get a written report detailing your many mistakes." he lectured. "Until then...good job."

That caught them all off guard.

**'Didn't see that coming.'**  thought Kurama.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust is what determines success. And who you choose to lead shows character." he said before walking off to a Zeta-Tube.

Needless to say the team was happy with the result.

Naruto then moved to a Zeta-Tube himself.

"Naruto where are you going?" asked M'gann.

"I still have a sector to patrol." said Naruto. Seeing their confused faces he explained. "Basically I'm part time here. When we are not on missions I go out on patrol of my sector when I can. Don't worry you'll still see me around."

"Oh great." said Wally once again in a sarcastic tone.

From there Naruto said his goodbyes to the rest of the team and move to the Tube. Before leaving however he needed to change his designation.

"Computer update designation of B07." said Naruto.

_"Confirmed. Call sign change?"_

"Green Lantern." said Naruto as he changed into his uniform.

**(Unknown location)**

"All I managed to procure was one vial of Kobra Venom." said Sportsmaster to his employers on the video screens.

The group known as the Light.

_"But the vial can be used to re-engineer the drug and make it viable."_  said the screen of L-6. "But what the young heroes. First Cadmus, then Mr. Twister, now Santa Prisca."

_"Including the inclusion of their newest powerhouse in the form of a Green Lantern."_  said the voice of L-3.

_"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action."_  said the growling voice of L-1.  _"And enemies of the Light will not stand."_

**(End Chapter)**

_Got this out before Christmas. Thank goodness for small miracles. Sorry about the wait. Again. As you doubt know by now my update speed is somewhat sporadic. Mainly because I do this because I like it and have fun with it. And also because real life, especially now, just sucks. Anyway I hoped you enjoyed the first meeting with the Team. It sure took me long enough. And again thanks to my betas Jebest4781, austinjak0, and hopefully soon Nightlance44 for making this mess of a chapter better._

_See you all later...though not too later I hope._


	11. Copy Machine Blues

**(Anti-Matter Universe, Qward)**

Sinestro sat, brooding in his ornate black and yellow chambers. To say that he was not happy with the way things had gone with Betrassus was an understatement. The Khundian's losses were heavy on both the planet's surface and orbit. Additionally, he had lost not one, but two of his Corps members. One of whom was among his best fighters. Fatality's loss alone was a blow to his troops' morale.

"Sinestro." said the voice of Lyssa that came from his ring.

"What is it?" he grumbled running his right hand over his face.

"You wanted to be notified when Orochimaru returned from his mission. He just arrived and is in the Guardian's laboratory." she responded.

"Very well." he said standing up and flying to the tower.

One thing that Sinestro knew about Orochimaru is that he got results when he needed it. Since his arrival Orochimaru had gone on missions even he himself would not have dared. This one however was by far his most public. Previously the Ajnian had been assigned to covert missions from sowing the seed of deceit and having other races join forces, to assassinating officials to help replace them with ones more in line with Sinestro's standards of order. Planting the seeds by trying to discredit the Green Lantern Corps anyway he could.

However he had noticed that Orochimaru seemed uncannily familiar with Scar. Ever since he took his new body the two were often in her lab going over experiments and theories about his people and their chakra network's symbiosis with power rings. It also made him wonder what else they were talking about.

That was his thought as he opened the doors and entered the lab.

"For once Sinestro would it kill you to knock before entering my personal chambers?" said Scar as she read notes.

"Where is Orochimaru?" he asked ignoring her question.

"Why do you ask?" she questioned back.

"You know why. He had a mission and I need to debrief him. Especially given certain events." said Sinestro growing more irritated with the Guardian.

"Naruto tends to do that." said a voice from behind him. He turned quickly to find the one he sought standing behind him.

As a result of his new body, Orochimaru's appearance had not changed in the two years since he joined. The only difference being that he now kept his hair in a ponytail. Sinestro had never been one to show fear. He had to master it to be this Corps leader. Yet every time he looked at this man he felt a chill run down his spine. Whether it was the predatory smile or the strength he possessed that caused it he didn't know.

'Perhaps both.' he thought to himself. "You were supposed to report back when you arrived."

"Yes I do apologize about that Sinestro. The Guardian however wanted to check in with me first to see how the body she so generously gave me performed on the battlefield." said Orochimaru.

"Suffice it to say it performed well." said Scar.

"As for the mission, I can safely say it was a resounding success. Taleron III, a planet that had been rebelling against Khundian rule for centuries I might add, is now once again under their control. King Kharlak has expressed his gratitude, stating that both a substantial amount of credits that will be entered into the Corps accounts and that this has helped solidify our alliance with them despite our recent setback." Orochimaru explained.

"Well done." said Sinestro who was more then a little surprised to hear that. "That will indeed give us time to help with our future endeavors."

"Especially since I asked the Khundians to record the battle as well. It should help strike fear not just in the Khundian Empire to set them in order but also make that sector of space wary of us." said Orochimaru.

"Indeed. Though I get the feeling that you just wanted to be noticed. Particularly by your fellow Ajnian in the Green Lantern Corps." said Sinestro. "Did you encounter him on your way back?"

"No I did not." said Orochimaru as his small smile faded into a neutral expression. Something Sinestro noticed.

"Pity. I would have liked to see how your powers would have fared against his." he said noticing the twitch in Orochimaru's eyes. It was only for an instant but he could almost sense a twinge of fear in him when mentioning Naruto.

"In any case good work." said Sinestro as he turned and flew out of Scar's lab.

"Sinestro has noticed your fear of your fellow Ajnian Orochimaru. It would be wise to hide it better." said Scar.

"If you knew the boy as well as I do you would also be afraid. Especially since the event now known as the Betreassian Blitz showed that his prowess has only grown since his induction into the Green Lantern Corps." said Orochimaru.

"Really?" she questioned taking a seat at her desk. "I'm curious to know more about your fellow Ajnian. Your own abilities seem formidable so I don't see the concern unless you tell me."

"Its a long story." said Orochimaru.

"I'm immortal. I have all the time in the universe." said Scar gesturing to the empty chair in front of her desk.

Orochimaru grinned as he sat down and told the tale of Naruto Uzumaki's rise to prominence on his world. And how it affects his success now.

* * *

**(Earth)**

"Achoo!" Naruto sneezed as he flew over Metropolis en route to Happy Harbor.

**'Careful kid. Don't want you catching cold on top of everything else that has happened today.'**  said Kurama.

_'I've never been sick Kurama so don't worry about that.'_  Naruto grumbled.

'That was before you took this job. Who knows what alien germs you've gotten since then.' said his partner. Naruto thought he was being a mother hen but just grumbled and stayed silent. Neither of them were in the mood to argue.

To say that he wasn't happy to say the least. After he got done with his usual patrol he got a call from Ganthet and Sayd telling him that he was no longer assigned to Sector 2813 on the council's ruling just after the Team's first mission. It would now be under a part time rotation with a member of the Honor Guard patrolling it instead of him. Essentially putting him under supervision of Hal and John.

What made it worse was that Honor Guard member just happened to be Guy Gardner. Who was possibly the most infuriating Green Lantern that Naruto had ever met. The man pretty much personified arrogance and cockiness. He had his good qualities but the man was for the most part insufferable. On top of that he knew for a fact that his diplomacy and tactics were sorely lacking.

The only good thing out of this is that he will still be able to visit Ajnin once a month so that should help fix whatever mess Guy makes of his sector.

Kurama could sense that Naruto was thinking about it as he flew over the landscape.

**'Look Naruto I know your not happy about this. As far as I and many others are concerned the council should have made you Honor Guard immediately after Betrassus.'**  he said.

_'Maybe. The real reason is that they still want to know about how I boosted my ring's power and now they're mad that I won't tell them. So now they are trying to punish me for it. Its just inconvenient right now._ ' Naruto responded.

**'Ganthet and Sayd will get it straightened out.'** said Kurama. Naruto stayed silent until they perceived what seemed to be rumbling and a plume of smoke out on a stretch of land off of Metropolis. It didn't take a genius to figure out was happening.

"Finally something I can hit." said Naruto looking forward to a fight for once.

**'Indeed.'**  Kurama agreed with a grin. Naruto blasted ahead at full speed to the battlefield.

(Moments Earlier...)

Dinah Laurel Lance, known to the world as Black Canary, was now shaking the cobwebs out of her head trying to fight off unconsciousness. She could feel the pain in her left arm but gritted through it as she managed to sit up. Remembering what hit her, with her own Canary Cry no less, she turned around to face the android.

Said android just had just tossed Superman around, knocking Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado aside with his body before throwing him aside and blasting two batarangs with heat vision blast. Then it turned in her direction.

She then saw the machine's eyes red and fired right at her as she made it to her knees. Dinah heard her boyfriend Oliver, known to the world as Green Arrow, scream for her to get out of the way. But she knew it was too late as the beam closed upon her.

Suddenly a figure stood in between her and the advancing heat beams. And in front of them was a green energy shield which she saw crack from the impact but just managed to hold. She felt a pair of arms hoist her up and found herself in the air as a second attack just missed them. She looked up to her rescuer.

She knew immediately that this was a Green Lantern but not one of the two she knew in the Justice League. However, having read the report on the Team she was tasked with training, she still knew who it was from his custom uniform. Unusual as it was, with its light armor and face cover, he seemed to be a ninja.

As Dinah examined him, Naruto gazed upon the heroine he had just aided. From his time on Ajnin growing up to now he had met his fair share of women in his time. Strangely without Jiraiya in his life he found himself able to better appreciate beautiful women without having to need to be a pervert like him as Tsunade greatly appreciated over the years. Nevertheless Naruto could see that this was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met.

"Are you alright?" the young man asked making sure to maintain his attention on the Droid.

Dinah looked to see the clear luminous green eyes that she associated with John. But unlike John this young man's eyes projected a certain sense of power that she didn't feel from the other Lanterns.

Looking down, she saw the crater that would have been her had the Lantern not moved them.

"You probably get this a lot but thank you." she said smiling warmly. Naruto returned her smile but maintained his focus on the situation.

"No problem." he said as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he descended to the scarred ground.

She let go after landing and turned to Green Arrow who ran towards them. He immediately took her into his arms.

"You okay Pretty Bird?" he asked.

"I'm fine Olly. Thanks to the Green Lantern here." she said as he kissed her forehead.

Naruto sighed but smiled under his mask as the hero turned to his direction.

"Thanks man. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't get involved." said Green Arrow.

"Don't mention it." Naruto said as the rest of the heroes arrived including Superman. The android held its position, apparently deciding to keep its distance as its opponents numbers increased.

"For those who haven't been briefed this the Green Lantern who has been assigned to the Team. Which he should be meeting at the cave." said Batman.

"Hey I was in the neighborhood on the way to Mount Justice when I saw the fight from the distance. Mind giving me the scoop on whats going on?" Naruto asked.

"We have the situation contained for now." said Batman "I suggest that you leave the area."

Naruto did not like what the dark knight was implying with that tone. As if he was some rookie in the way of whatever plan that he was concocting to face the new menace they faced.

"Bats, we could the extra help right now seeing as we're getting our asses kicked." Flash piped in.

"Getting more help is what got us into this mess." said Batman.

"The android in question has stopped attacking for the moment. Soon after the young Lantern's arrival." Red Tornado pointed out.

"Lets at least tell him the situation first." said Black Canary.

Batman turned to Martian Manhunter, Captain Atom, and Superman.

"Its not like anything else we've tried has helped. Plus more firepower could be useful." said Atom.

"Indeed." said the martian. "At least lets give him the information on what has happened."

"Superman?" he questioned.

The Man of Steel just looked to Naruto. "He just saved one of our own. I think he's earned a spot here." he said.

"Looks like your outvoted." said Naruto with a smirk.

"Fine." Batman grumbled. "About one hour ago this android appeared and attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. From there Green Arrow called for reinforcements which has since proven an ill-fated decision on his part."

"After I told him not to since my power was the first ability that thing copied." said Black Canary as she glared at her boyfriend who at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"In my defense I didn't know that it could copy powers at the time. Though I should have after being hit with Canary's cry."

"So basically this thing here now has the powers of pretty much everyone who showed up to the distress call.." said Naruto seeing the problem.

"Yes and it has had no problem so far in using it against as you saw when it tossed me around." said Superman.

Naruto wasn't sure how feel about the big guy. He seemed nice enough. Though for some reason had kept his distance from his clone Superboy. But he decided to keep being professional for the moment until the current situation was dealt with.

"So we know its strengths. Any weaknesses?" he asked.

"Well it can only use one power at a time and it takes a few seconds to switch from one to another." said the Flash.

"About as much time as it takes to speak what person's power it switches to in its monotone voice." said Canary hold her wounded arm.

"Wait, it says which person when it changes powers? Isn't that strategically stupid?" said Naruto.

"Yes. Although it can be used for intimidation." said Batman

'Which he would know about plenty.' said Kurama.

"So powers only, no weapons?" Naruto asked. The others nodded. "Then it means that all we need is a moment when its vulnerable and take it out."

"Agreed. Most likely when it changes its power set. However, that has proven easier said then done." said Batman.

'Then maybe we need to improvise.' thought Naruto. "More like you need someone to divert its attention." said Naruto. "Which will be me."

"Excuse me?" the dark knight questioned. Naruto ignored him and called out to the rest of the heroes.

"Okay guys. I'm going to go ahead and fight that thing alone. And I mean alone. No backup." he said.

"Look kid I don't if you've noticed but that thing tossed Superman around. You can't possibly think of going at it one on one!" exclaimed Green Arrow.

"Whoever built this thing clearly had the Justice League in mind. That means it was counting on you showing him in force to copy your powers. This person however did not perceive weapons, such as my power ring, to be in that equation." Naruto explained.

"Even so facing that thing alone with the powers it has is bordering on suicide." exclaimed Black Canary

"I'm a tough cookie I can handle a beating if need be." said Naruto. "Besides I'm not expecting you to stay on the sidelines forever. Your going to watch and wait. When the moment comes and the android becomes vulnerable take it out. Superman you're going to be essential for that part."

"I understand." he said.

"Good. You and Flash are the fastest we got here but you have the more varied skill set. No offense." he said gesturing to the red clad hero.

"None taken. Besides you're right." said the Flash.

"Any other objections?" said Naruto.

Despite what reservations they had the group kept silent.

"With that said I've got a robot to fight." he said as he strode towards the machine.

"Lantern." Black Canary called out to which Naruto turned to her. "Good luck." she said

Naruto nodded as he flew towards the enemy,

**'We are going to need it. I mean we are talking about a machine with the powers of several members of the Justice League. Including Superman, Martian Manhunter, and the Flash. Guys we weren't looking to pick a fight with under any circumstances.'**  said Kurama.

_'I know. Any recommendations?'_  Naruto asked his partner.

**'Use Tailed Beast Mode and end this as quickly as possible.'**  the fox answered.

_'No. Way too much to be shown. Especially with Batman around to watch the thing. And don't suggest Nine-Tails mode either. Though I'm glad you didn't mention Six Paths Mode cause that's overkill.'_  Naruto responded as he landed in front of the android who took notice of him

_'Then at least lets use Sage Mode. Give me that much.'_  said Kurama.

Naruto thought on it for a moment. Yes he had planned to keep the lion share of his powers out of notice. Double since his arrival. However, he had to give Kurama this one since he knew that this fight would be tough.

_'Very well Kurama. Sage Mode would be prudent at this point. Get into position.'_  he told his partner.

**'Already in it. Lets do this.'** said Kurama.

Naruto closed his eyes as he walked towards his opponent. He could already feel the natural energy coursing through him and changing him.

He could only hope this would be enough as his eyes opened, his uniform and ring giving off the now familiar glow as the ring got a power boost.

The android, known to its master as Amazo, focus its sensors upon the approaching young man as he strode toward. Its seemed to stare at him almost as if trying to figure out what was going on with the Lantern.

_"Unknown energy detected. Not related to Green Lanterns. Attempting to duplicate...error...duplication failed. Recommended Action: initiate first attack."_  droned its on board computer.

"Access: Captain Atom." the machine said as it raised its right hand, opened the iris on it's palm, and blasted an energy beam toward the Young Lantern. Naruto, now fully in Sage Mode, returned fire. The two beams collided but Naruto's overwhelmed the opposing energy blast and continued toward the android.

"Access: Martian Manhunter." it said. And then became transparent, the young ninja's attack sailing through it and destroying the area behind him.

"That's going to be annoying." said Naruto.

The mechanized assassin then used a mechanical version of Martian Manhunter's ability to stretch his limbs as benefit of his shape-shifting and flailed them like whips at his opponent. Naruto managed to avoid them, flipping and jumping around the battlefield simultaneously firing shuriken and kunai at the android which avoided damage through density shifting.

But as the android phased back a shuriken exploded behind it, knocking it off balance for a moment. Naruto seized the opening, charging faster than the machine could counter and hit it with a combination of a right and left cross before finishing with a kick to the chest, sending it flying a few meters away. The robot's face plate had taken a few scratches and the kick left a sizable dent in its abdominal plate.

Before he could continue pressing his attack the machine spoke again.

"Access: The Flash." from there it evaded Naruto's charge at super speed.

"Access: Black Canary." it said extending its jaw and Black Canary's sonic power was blasted at him. Naruto managed to form earmuff constructs to block out the noise but was struck by the sound waves and sent flying.

_'Shit! I thought her power hurt the ears but it almost feels like I got hit by a truck!'_  he thought as he recovered in the air and landed to face the droid. Unfortunately landing was the wrong choice as the droid sped towards him. It already had managed to get five super fast punches in before Naruto managed to raise his arms to block.

**'Do something kid!'**  Kurama called out. Immediately following that, Naruto raised a barrier around himself forcing the android to stop its assault by making some distance. When it tried to charge him again Naruto took a page from Gaara's ninja handbook and made spikes jut out of his shield. The spikes forced it back again.

Then Naruto used a tendril construct to grab Amazo's left foot and pulled it back towards him before it could react. Naruto poured more chakra into his right fist and slammed it into the android's face sending the machine flying and crashing to the ground twenty meters away.

"He's doing okay so far." he heard the Flash speak out.

"For how much longer though?" said Black Canary with worry. Worry that was conveyed to the rest of the group doing as the young man said but anxious to get back into the fight.

The machine stood up again with its face casing torn off.

"Access: Red Tornado." it said as the signature tornado that usually came from the robotic hero was generated by the death machine and twirled around with amazing force.

"Two can play this game!" Naruto called out as he made his hand-signs. "Ninja Art: Tornado Field Jutsu!" he said. Soon he found himself with his own tornado surrounding him with equal force to the android's much to the surprise of the heroes.

"Red, did you know he could do that?" questioned Green Arrow.

"No... I did not." said the android. "It appears I have, as you would say, more then my fair share of competition."

They watched on as the two tornado's clashed against each other the force of the blows sending more hurricane like winds around the area.

"We need to make a move now! Before this gets out of control!" called out Batman.

"Give him another minute! I think he's up to something!" said Superman using his vision he could again see the ninja make more hand-signs.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Enhancement!"Naruto called out. His tornado turned itself into a virtual lighting storm with it seemingly combining with Naruto's own tornado. The next clash broke the androids and it started to short circuit as it was sent crashing to the ground. And just as fast as it started it stopped with Naruto in midair. He flew straight down to the crater to which the machine landed and raised his right hand once again forming a Massive Rasengan and slamming it down to destroy the thing.

Unfortunately he was a moment too late.

"Access: Superman." said the machine as it stood and saw the attack. With that power set it grabbed Naruto's attack with both of its arms as the sphere crashed upon it. With some effort it managed to send the attack upwards, pushing it away and causing it to disperse. This propelled Naruto spinning in midair and before he could correct himself he felt a searing pain as the android flew up after him and slammed into his back.

Ignoring the pain in his back, he was healing quickly, Naruto corrected himself as the machine blasted him with a stream of heat vision. Naruto once again blocked with his ring though the force of the beam pushed him into the ground again and smashing the shield. Naruto managed to stand only see the android looming over him and slam its fist down upon him. Naruto used his own arms to block and force of the blow made small craters on the ground from the force of the attack. It backhanded Naruto sending him spinning but Naruto managed to reverse it by using his rotation to perform a spinning kick.

Amazo moved back to avoid it but Sage Mode extended the range of all of Naruto's attacks so the kick connected anyway, staggering the droid. Naruto grabbed one of its arms and threw it a hundred meters away where it crashed into the ground. Though it's copied Kryptonian invulnerability allowed it to immediately get up again without damage.

**'You have to end this now Naruto! You cannot get into a slug fest with him with that power set. Either kick it up a notch or get the League involved!** ' said his partner.

_'Don't worry furball. I knew that Superman's power set was going to be the toughest of the bunch. Its also what I was counting on.'_ Naruto responded taping his earpiece, breathing heavily from the fight.

"Superman get ready. That moment I said was coming. Its about to happen." he panted

"It better cause you can't keep this up forever. You need to get us back in there or you will die!" Superman responded.

"Trust me it's coming." said Naruto as he formed a normal Rasengan in his hand. He flew towards his enemy. It was then that Kurama caught on.

'Seriously! Your using that tactic again!?' the Tailed Beast questioned.

'It worked on the Third Raikage didn't it?' he thought as he mere was inches away when the robot went to strike him with its right fist. Kurama could only pray to Kami that he was right.

Thanks to the enhanced reflexes and perception of Sage Mode he managed to dodge the attack, if far closer then even the Raikage's, and slammed the Rasengan into the machine's forearm. History repeated itself as the punch was redirected inward.

Shattering the androids entire left side.

Not needing anymore incentive Superman flew with such speed that Naruto only saw a blur as he literally cut the machine's legs from under it. The twitching heap crashed onto the ground, its right arm holding it up.

"A-Acess-Acessing-A-" it sputtered.

"Access this!" exclaimed Naruto as he made a ninjato construct, gripped it in both hands, and swept it down, cutting the droid's head off. From it spurt not blood, but oil from tubes and sparks from shorting circuits as the head dropped to the ground the body falling with it.

Naruto deactivated Sage Mode. His eyes returned to normal and the glow around him faded. He suddenly felt so sore and tired he fell to one knee with his sword blade embedding itself into the ground to keep him from falling over as he caught his breath.

**'Next time use something stronger! I don't care if we get exposed or not we are not going to hold back in a situation like this again! You Hear Me!?** ' screamed Kurama

_'I will keep that in mind in the future alright.'_  said Naruto too tired to argue as he stood up while the sword disappeared.

**'Good. Cause that was bat-shit crazy.'**  said Kurama with a sigh of relief that his friend and host was alive.

"You alright?" questioned Superman as he came up to him

"Yeah. Hurting and going to be sore but I will be fine." said Naruto still shaking out the cobwebs.

"Good cause that was crazy. Granted it worked out well but still." the Man of Steel continued.

Soon the others arrived to the site of the now destroyed machine as they carefully lifted and examined it's parts.

"It was a good attempt at least. If you want to make something to kill the Justice League copying their powers is a way to do it. Still not enough that I didn't think I couldn't take it though." said Naruto.

"How do you figure on that kid?" asked Green Arrow.

"Well for one thing it had your powers but still fought like a machine. No room for improvisation or adaptation. Just going through a set of tactics probably pre-programmed." said Naruto

"Agreed." said Black Canary. "When me and Arrow fought it it copied not just my power but my combat skills. Even so I managed to surprise when I used a kick and followed with a scream though when I tried it again it used my power against me and the two cries clashed with... painful results." she continued grasping her arm.

"On top of that, the thing could only get surface scans of each of your powers. Hence why I wasn't turned to mush when it used Superman's power set since he only uses about ten percent of his full power." Naruto said. Superman looked at him in surprise. "What? I do the same thing to a lesser degree."

"And obviously it couldn't use any psychic attacks from Martian Manhunter since it was non-sentient with no independent thought." said Superman. To which the others agreed.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Canary was holding her left arm. Though she put up a tough face she was in clear discomfort and Green Arrow trying to comfort her wasn't helping.

"I hope I'm not being too forward but could I look at? I might be able to help." said Naruto. Green Arrow and Canary looked at each other but she just shrugged and took off her jacket enough to show her arm. From there Naruto could see a bad bruise on her arm.

"When the shockwave hit I landed on my arm hard. Its not broken just bruised." she said.

Naruto nodded while trying his best not to look at how toned her body was.

'She's taken, remember that Naruto.' he thought to himself as right hand stared to glow green. Arrow went to his bow just in case.

"It's alright." said Black Canary though she wondered what he was doing. Naruto paused, waiting for her permission. After she nodded, Naruto placed his hand over the wound. She grimaced for a brief second before the pain in her arm disappeared. When his hand left her arm the bruise was gone.

"Thank you." she said rubbing her arm as she put her jacket back in place.

"I didn't know Green Lanterns could heal like that." said Batman.

"They can't. At least not in this way. Our best doctor still needs the use of constructs for medicine and surgery." said Naruto

"Which you don't need to form. Among other things." he said hinting at Naruto's performance. He then gestured for him to follow him so they could talk alone.

"Despite the result this was still a League matter. This android was targeted specifically for us and the Team was told that at present it is to handle covert affairs." said Batman.

"The Team doesn't know what was going on with this thing. I just happened to fly by and saw the debris from the fight and decided to intervene. And before you say anything else, yes, I know the League would have handled it but it would have taken longer with the way you guys hold back, and with more chance of injuries. My plan worked and you guys still came out on top." Naruto explained.

Batman knew the young ninja was right as he looked upon the rubble of the battlefield and seeing his colleagues examine their would be assassin.

"Be that as it may we still need to discuss your other-" he went to turn to Naruto but he was gone.

To say that someone managed to disappear from him was a surprise, was an understatement.

"So that's what that feels like." he said looking to find a trace of the young Lantern. No matter, he still managed to record what he could from the fight with his visor for further examination, he thought to himself as he walked back to Superman who was using his x-ray vision to examine the android's bits and pieces.

"J'onn just made the call to Star Labs. They will be coming with trucks later to take the parts though he has an idea of who made it. The others headed out already though Red Tornado has volunteered to stay and guard the area." he said. "Where's the Green Lantern?"

"He's gone already. Headed back to Mount Justice would be my guess." said Batman. "Anyway since we have some free time I you told we needed to talk. Meet you down at Bibbo's Diner." he said.

Superman had a very distinct feeling that he knew what Batman wanted to talk about. And that it involved a certain young clone of his.

* * *

**(Mount Justice 13:06 EDT)**

Robin and M'gann watched as Kid Flash and Aqualad played a holo-game. All of them in uniform for their first combat lesson today.

Kid Flash scoring the win again when Superboy showed up from the Zeta-Tube.

"Hi Superboy. How was Metropolis?" asked M'gann. Superboy just grumbled and continued walking past them.

"Sheesh, he sounds about the same as Naruto did when he got back." said Kid Flash.

"Though he seemed more tired than angry." Kaldur mentioned.

They heard a throat being cleared to get their attention. It was the woman who would be their teacher.

"Ready for training everyone?" asked the heroine who was being escorted by J'onn.

"Black Canary! Uncle J'onn!" exclaimed the young Martian as she ran to her relative and gave him a hug.

"M'gann." he greeted. "I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to see how you were adjusting to life on Earth."

"A few bumps in the road but I'm learning." she said.

"That is all I can ask. And from what I can see so far you are doing well." he said with pride which M'gann beamed at.

Seeing this exchange made Superboy even more disgruntled and turned to go to his room.

However their teacher for today noticed him leaving.

"Stick around." she told him. "Class is in session." she then looked around to see one was missing. "Where is Green Lantern?"

"Here" they heard from Naruto. Only rather than being in uniform as she saw earlier today he was in his civilian clothing without a mask, while putting on his red jacket.

"Sorry. Tried to take a nap." said Naruto rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Its fine. If you want you can skip the first lesson today given what's happened." Black Canary offered.

"Thanks but I'm good. No need to worry on my account." said Naruto with a small smile to which Canary returned. "And for the record my name is Naruto when in private or out of uniform."

She nodded again with a small smile before walking onto the central area with the holographic computer activated beneath her as she turned to the Team.

"I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you with experiences from my own mentors and from my bruises for when you're on the job." she said taking of her jacket and throwing it aside.

To his credit Naruto did a rather good job of suppressing his blush upon seeing her in full form without the jacket.

To Naruto's chagrin, his Inner Jiraiya decided to rear its pervy head and commented  _ **'You know it's okay to look.'**_

_'She's with someone. It isn't right.'_  thought Naruto.

_**'There is no sin in looking. What guy wouldn't? She's a beautiful woman who isn't trying to kill you.'**_  said Inner Jiraiya.

Naruto stayed silent for a moment.  _'She is isn't she?'_ Naruto agreed.

**'** _ **And tough too.'**_  his Inner Jiraiya added.

_'Stop right there.'_  he ordered, concentrating on the ongoing lesson.

"Now. Combat is about controlling the action. Putting the battle on your terms. You must always be acting, never reacting." she began. "To demonstrate this I'm going to need a sparring partner." she continued with a smile. And if he didn't know better he'd swear she was looking at him as she said that.

"Right here yeah!" said Kid Flash who just finished eating his banana as he walked up to her. "After this." he threw the peal into a trashcan. "Swish. I'll show you my moves."

**'Oh brother.'**  Naruto thought to himself and resisted face palming.

For her part Dinah frowned a bit in confusion before smirking. She threw a straight right at him that he blocked. However, she simply slid to the floor and kicked him across the legs knocking him off his feet and landing on his back with a satisfying thud. The computer on the ground reading his failure.

"Oohhh. Hurts so good." he groaned.

"Good block but did anyone see what he did wrong?" she asked, helping him to his feet.

"Oh oh he hit on teacher and got served?" Robin questioned sarcastically.

"Dude come on!" said Wally embarrassed.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms of the fight." said Black Canary.

"Oh please." said the voice of Superboy to which the veteran hero turned to see his dissatisfied look. "With my powers the battle is always on my terms. I'm a living weapon and this is a waste of my time." said the boy of steel.

_**'Excuse me?'**_ Naruto thought to himself.  _'Kurama. During our time before I became a Green Lantern and after how many people have we faced that had more claim to that then he?'_

**'More than a dozen people back home including Gaara and Killer Bee. Half the members of the League. The robot we fought a few hours ago. Heck I think M'gann would fit that bill better in some ways. Need I go on?'**

_'Nope partner, you pretty much nailed it.'_  thought Kurama. But he saw Canary just smirk.

"Prove it." she said. Superboy just raised an eyebrow and moved into her space. They stared each other down for a moment before assumed fighting stances. Or rather Dinah assumed a fighting stance as the boy didn't bother taking a one, Naruto noted.

Superboy threw a right straight but Canary dodged it, grabbed his arm and threw him to the floor, where he landed with a thud on his back. Robin laughed, causing Kaldur to elbow his side but all he did was cover his mouth while M'gann looked on in concern. Kid Flash just winced while Naruto had a smile on his face.

Superboy got back up and sufficed to say he was pissed.

"You're angry. Good." said Black Canary. "But don't react to it. Channel the anger into a-"

She didn't get the chance as the boy yelled and charged at her. She flipped over him and ducked his backhand and swept his legs from under him and he hit the floor again, earning a another laugh from Robin.

"That's it! I'm done!" he said getting up.

"Training is mandatory." she said trying to help him up which he refused.

'The lady's got some skills and the nerve to match it.' Kurama noted with approval.

"Anger can be useful but uncontrolled it weakens you. You should listen to what she says." said Naruto suddenly.

"And what would you know about power?" asked Superboy in rage. "She think she can teach a guy with super strength how to fight but she knows nothing about it! And without that ring what do you have?"

_'He kind of reminds me of Sasuke, the way he rages. But I get the feeling there's more to that anger then just stupidity like with him.'_  thought Naruto as he stepped into the central chamber.

"She fights guys stronger then her all the time and still manages to come out on top. Through training, and the skills and experience that come with that." Naruto said, defending their teacher. "As for me without my ring...well that's a little better question isn't it?"

He pulled off his power ring and sent it flying to his quarters within the mountain. Both Canary and Superboy noticed his luminous emerald green eyes shift back to their natural sky blue.

"Black Canary. Superboy wanted to know if I have anything else besides my ring, and I feel like indulging him. Shall I show him what else I have?" Naruto asked.

Canary just stared at him for a moment then at the Boy of Steel and nodded her head. Getting the feeling that maybe he could teach the boy better then she would. And seeing how he handled himself earlier something told her that he would be more of a match for Superboy than herself.

"Be my guest." she said stepping out of the circle. It was now just two of them on the practice floor.

"Fight me boy." Naruto said with his arms folded behind his back.

Superboy hesitated for a moment waiting for him to strike. When it didn't come he moved in with a flurry of punches. Which the young ninja easily dodged without wasted motion before twisting and landing an elbow to the back of the boy's head sending him tumbling before stopping himself.

"As she was trying to say before you interrupted her, anger is a double-edged sword. It can be useful when channeled. When it isn't you become sloppy and predictable." Naruto said. All this did was make Superboy lash out again only for Naruto to duck under his punch and land one of his own to his sternum and landing a left hook that sent him to the floor.

The boy was stunned since he had felt that punch and the power behind it.

"Attacking to hasten victory in your rage. Countered with proper training. That's what she did when you attacked before. That's what I'm doing now. That is what she is trying to impart to all of you." he said also addressing his teammates.

If Superboy was listening Naruto didn't know cause he got back up still pissed. He charged again trying to punch him and also again without wasted motion, Naruto dodged and parried all his strikes before catching the clone's right arm as he made a right straight and landed two elbows to Superboy's stomach and face before tossing him aside. The boy's head seemed to spin but he still managed to keep standing.

"Without control and without training any power you initially have is not only ineffective but also dangerous in anger. To yourself, your friends or whoever else." Naruto said. Superboy made one last attempt and threw another sloppy right.

Except this time Naruto didn't dodge or block. He simply grabbed the clone's fist in his right hand. The force of the blow was felt by the audience who were stunned. But none were more stunned than the one who threw the punch. And the shock continued when Naruto clinched and put pressure on the hand and Superboy felt his fist being squeezed as Naruto put more and more pressure nearly forcing him to his knees. Canary was about to intervene when Naruto finally let him go.

"To answer your question Superboy, before I got this ring I was already skilled and powerful. You saw a glimpse of that power right now. And I got that power through my training like just as Canary got her skills from her training. Respect that and learn from that." said Naruto raising his right hand and calling his ring back to him and eyes glowed green once again.

Before anything else could be said, a hologram of Batman appeared before them.

"Batman to the cave." he began. "Five hours ago I new menace appeared and attacked Black Canary and Green Arrow. Arrow then called reinforcements which nearly proved disastrous as the enemy gained more and more power as more combatants appeared." he showing video footage of the battle.

"Whoa. Something with the powers of the Justice League?" said Wally astonished at this.

"In the end it took the League members that arrived three hours to defeat and subdue the android. Admittingly it would have taken longer had we not had some...assistance." he reluctantly acknowledged.

"An android. Did T.O. Marrow make it?" asked Robin.

"Good guess Robin but Red Tornado doesn't think so." said Batman. Naruto couldn't help but notice the grimace of Superboy as the Dark Knight gave praise to his partner.

"From what we examined of the wreckage the signature of this machine belongs to Professor Ivo." said Martian Manhunter.

"Ivo. But Ivo is dead." said Kaldur.

"So we all believed. Or hoped." said Black Canary.

"To make sure that this threat is neutralized permanently we will be sending the androids parts to two separate Star Lab facilities in Boston and New York for evaluation." Batman explained showing the map of the routes both trucks will be taken.

"We will be taking every precaution by using four decoys to hide them from the group in case Ivo or anyone else looks to take the parts. You will be providing undercover escort for the two real trucks." he continued giving them their assignment.

"Sweet! Road trip!" exclaimed Wally.

"So now we're picking up your trash?" asked Superboy angered at the concept. However, Naruto responded before Batman did.

"Don't take this lightly. The fact that this android has the capacity to copy the powers of the Justice League is no joke. If someone could replicate it from those parts, a villain for a hero for example, and then they suddenly can use a weapon that uses their power against that hero or worse cancels it out then the problems could be insurmountable." he said. Superboy's eyes widened when Naruto mentioned this.

It was then that Kaldur got a ping from his pda.

"Coordinates received. We should get moving." he said. But as they turned to leave Batman spoke up again.

"Naruto your staying in the cave." he ordered. This made Naruto turn around.

"Excuse me? On what grounds am I staying when the Team is about to go on a mission?" he questioned.

"The Team can handle the escort. You and I need to discuss what happened today." he said. "That is an order. I will be there momentarily." The screen disappeared.

He turned to the others and just nodded for them to leave to which they did.

"Kaldur." Naruto called out. "If anything happens let me know." he said pointing to the earpiece in his right ear. Kaldur nodded.

As Superboy turned to leave Black Canary touched his arm.

"When your ready I'll be here." she said to him. From there he left.

When Black Canary turned she saw Naruto holding out her jacket for her.

"Thanks." she said taking it and putting on.

"No problem." he grumbled putting his hands in his jacket's pockets. There was a moment of silence in the room between the three heroes that were in the room.

"I do apologize for our colleague's behavior towards you. He tends to be suspicious when it comes to elements he is not familiar with." said the Martian.

"He wants to know about my abilities. Story of my life these days." said Naruto.

"I'm guessing its a recurring theme?" said Canary.

**'Lady you have no idea.'**  thought Kurama to which Naruto smiled at.

"You could say that Black Canary." said Naruto.

"Dinah. Dinah Lance if you want the full name." said Dinah holding out her hand to which Naruto shook it.

"My name is J'onn if there are to be more formal introductions since we did not get the chance on the battlefield." J'onn included.

"Nice to meet you both." he said. "So I get the feeling that the reason Superboy had something to do with the other guy who has the House of El on his chest?"

Both heroes widened at hearing that.

"Most people see the symbol as an "S"." said Dinah.

"Most people don't have a power ring that has an encyclopedia and database of all known races both existing and extinct that is planted in your head." said Naruto gesturing to his ring. "And the last user was through when it came to Kryptonians."

"Handy. Kinda wish my phone was like that so I wouldn't have to search." said Dinah. "So I'm guessing you want the whole story?"

Naruto nodded. From there both J'onn and Dinah told him of how the found the Team with Superboy at Cadmus and the subsequent distance that Superman had put between himself and the boy. Not deliberately rude but not there for him either.

"I just don't understand why he's acting like this. Yes, enemies of ours more then likely funded the project and stole his DNA but it wasn't his fault. He never asked for this." said Dinah in sympathy for the boy. "He should be better then this."

"Have you ever been cloned?" Naruto asked.

Dinah shook her head with J'onn joining her.

"I have. When I had to barf out snakes from me." this made them give him looks. "Long story. Now this thing wasn't human by any means and for most intent and purposes wanted nothing more then to destroy. Nothing like Superboy. But it still had my face and it was made from an enemy of mine. When I saw it I felt angry and very very disturbed at what I saw. Then it tried to kill people I cared about. And it had my face." he reiterated.

"Now imagine what Superman is going through. Someone took a piece of his DNA, a piece of him, and used it to play Kami and created a clone of him. Not as strong but someone who looks like him. Guys who he fights on a regular basis who harm innocent people created this clone with the most likely intent to kill him. He feels violated by that fact." he continued.

"Which on top of the fact of him for all his life to try to be a part of a race that he is not part of." said J'onn to which Naruto acknowledged.

Dinah sighed. "I'll admit I didn't think about it that way. But it still isn't right to take it out on him."

"No one here is saying that. Hell, I think Clark would agree with that he just has to get past his initial feelings of distrust first." said Naruto. The other two were shocked to call Superman by his human name.

"How did you know?" asked J'onn.

"Dude seriously, you have to ask? Most people on this planet maybe ignorant but I'm not. I saw a photo of the guy from the Daily Planet. How no one knows is beyond me." said Naruto with a smile to which Dinah laughed at that with J'onn having a small smile.

"Point taken." she said managing to stop her giggling.

"Anyway, my gut is telling me that maybe the big guys knows something the rest of us don't that may be a key reason why he keeps his distance." said Naruto.

**'Which you listen to since I'm in it technically.'**  said Kurama.

_'I know.'_  Naruto responded.

"And what would that be?" asked Dinah

Before he could respond the Zeta Tube activated.

"Recognized: Batman. Authorization: 02." said the computer voice as the Beam made Batman appeared.

"Another time." Naruto whispered to both of them.

Batman walked into the main hall and pulled up a file on screen in front of them. The profile had Naruto's picture on it.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Born in Tokyo, Japan. Family moved to America where he was raised. Graduated high school at fifteen and moved to take college at the University of Michigan. From there-"

"I know what my profile says." said Naruto using his own access to shut off the display. "You didn't keep me here to recite it to me."

"No I didn't." said Batman turning to face him. "Hal was correct when he said that your superior officer was thorough with his profile. Bank accounts, transcripts, all there. Which we all know are a lie. What I want to know is who you are, and more importantly what you're capable of."

"Get in line." said Naruto. From there Batman displayed an image of Naruto in full uniform fighting against Amazo.

"I will admit that my knowledge about the Green Lantern Corps is limited but from what I gather neither Hal nor John have displayed anything resembling the abilities that you did today." he said gesturing to footage of Naruto beginning to glow as his pupils elongated. "Care to explain?"

"Trade secret." Naruto said with a smirk.

Batman frowned. "You think this is a game?" he growled.

Naruto then looked to the other two in the room.

"He give you guys the ninth degree?" he asked. They both shook their heads no. "Didn't think so."

"Batman, I do not see the concern here. He has helped us win a great victory and saved Dinah's life. I see no reason for this interrogation." said J'onn

"Everyone on the Team and the League's abilities are well known. I don't like unknowns." said the Dark Knight.

"Because you don't like not being in control, right Bruce." said Naruto. He noticed how the dark hero tensed before turning around. "Wasn't hard to figure out. As I said when I got here I did my homework. Bruce Wayne's parents are killed in front of him. He leaves Gotham for about a decade. Batman first appears soon after he returns. Bruce Wayne is the only one that has the motivation to either fund Batman or be him of which anyone who seeks vengeance or justice would do the latter. Simple as that."

**'Get him boy. Get him!'**  Kurama cheered. Naruto pressed on.

"And since we are on the subject let's get another perspective, shall we?" He then changed the display to another profile. The image showing the face of a tall man with long dark hair and brown eyes, medium dark toned skin heavily muscled with broad shoulders dressed in long dark-blue coat with gloves and boots. The most noticeable feature was three scars across his face.

"Vandal Savage. Immortal and enemy of the Justice League. He first appeared, hiring a band of criminals, each associated with one member of the original seven members of the League. He concocted a plan to kill or incapacitate each one in order to create an event using a solar flare to essentially take over the Earth. It almost worked too since Vandal had each criminal exploit weaknesses of six League members, both physical and psychological. Very extensively I might." he then turned to Batman. "Should I go on to explain where he got the information for these members?"

The silence was deafening for the moment.

"He took the plans from me using Mirror Master." said Batman.

"Yes he did. Plans you created to stop each member of the League. And now you're trying to do the same for me by figuring out how my abilities work to do the same." said Naruto.

"The plans were needed in case-"

"Yes I know what you said. There is even a small part of me that would agree with it had the rest known about it. You breached their trust and instead of apologizing about it you defended it! Which then lead you out of the League for some time until you were allowed to return a year later."

"Is there a point to this?" said Batman feeling unease at being put on the defensive.

"My point is this. You made these plans under the assumption that one or all of the League would go too far. That was your primary focus, with the second being you in control. I find it amusing." said Naruto.

"Amusing?" questioned the Dark Knight now feeling insulted.

"Amusing because out of everyone in the League currently or inactive, based on what I have read so far, you are the one most likely to go rogue." Naruto said in a serious tone.

Silence filled the room but Naruto could see that a million thought ran through the Dark Knight seeing the white eyes in his mask widen at being told this.

Though not a complete surprise as he suspected some of the others, even those he considered his friends, had felt that way. But this is the first time someone outright said it to his face.

"Naruto that isn't entirely fair." said Dinah.

"Perhaps not. I'm not saying he would. I am saying that he is the most likely to do it." said Naruto. "But mainly its cause of a saying that my teach once told me and I never forgot it. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Your not there yet Bruce but you are treading it. I would be more careful and more appreciative of those you call allies in the future. You may not get another chance next time you bungle up." said Naruto.

_"Naruto, do you read?"_  said the voice of Kaldur'aum in his ear piece.

"Go ahead Aqualad." he said tapping said ear piece.

_"The android parts have been stolen by what appears to be android monkeys. We have tracked them and have all but confirmed that Professor Ivo is behind them. Superboy has run off ahead we need backup."_  told the leader of the Team.

"On my way." Naruto said, immediately changing into his uniform. "If you will all excuse me the Team needs my help." Batman nodded, remaining silent as Naruto left the chambers.

Dinah and J'onn walked up to Batman who was still standing silent.

"Our new friend is quite blunt when he feels he needs to be." said J'onn.

"Yes...but it doesn't mean he's not wrong." Batman said to their astonishment.

_'He just made Batman admit that someone other then him was right.'_  Dinah thought to herself. _'I had feeling I was going to like him.'_  she then saw J'onn with a smile on his face. If he was reading her mind she thinks he would agree.

**(Gotham Academy)**

Superboy was not having a good day as he was sent flying to through another wall to the gym of the school. Soon after the stupid monkey like robots had taken the parts he in his rage blindly went after them. From there he found a train and managed to find Professor Ivo working on something. After taunting him, Ivo sent more of his monkey robots or MONQI as he designated them, which Superboy easily destroyed when they didn't blind him.

Unfortunately, he was not prepared for the fully rebuilt Amazo android. From he there fought the thing all over town. Or more like it kicked his ass all over town til then ended up in this school to which he vaguely saw a kid's picture that looked familiar before being thrown into the trophy case where said picture was.

He then heard clapping and looked to the benches to see the scientist on them.

"I would normally not attend these things in person but this was too good to miss." he said with a stupid grin.

"Access: Superman." he heard the android say. Superboy hoisted himself back up and charged again. He got one punch on the things face before once again being pummeled with punches, kicks and backhands that sent him kneeling on the ground.

Before Amazo could finish him Kid Flash showed up in the nick of time.

"Yoink!" KF called out as he grabbed Superboy, avoiding just being crushed by Amazo's fists and got him to Robin who threw his batarangs at the machine. Amazo phased out using Martian Manhunter's density shifting before switching to Red Tornado and blowing them away by charging them. It then switched to Captain Atom and fired at Kid Flash who ran out of the blast's way. When he charged however he got hit with a Canary Cry that sent him to the wall.

From there it went down hill as the three of them tried to alternate attacks but each time Amazo changed powers to the situation. Between Amazo catching a punch from Superboy then sending him to the stands to blocking more batarangs by using its arms to defend and retaliate to then catching Kid Flash in a bear hug and nearly crushing him using Superman's strength. The one thing that saved him was Amazo switching to Martian Manhunter to faze out as an arrow flew through him. Superboy tried to attack again but was thrown to the other benches. Then Amazo turned and used heat vision on Robin, queuing Kid Flash to save his friend.

Superboy manage himself out of the rubble he looked at what was going. Finally realizing that what he was doing wasn't working, he started using his head.

"Access: Black Canary and Green Lantern." he said to himself. He then looked to see the demented professor yawning.

"Normally Amazo would study and duplicate your powers during battle but what's the point? Aside from that Green Lantern from earlier today you're all just poor copies of the originals." he said.

"So everyone keeps saying. It makes me angry!" he yelled charging again. But this time instead of Amazo he charged at Ivo.

Ivo screamed and ran out of the way as the boy cratered the spot he was in.

"Wanna see me channel that anger!?" he screamed.

"Great he's gone berserk again." said Kid Flash.

"Maybe not." said Robin catching one to what the Boy of Steel was doing.

"Amazo protect your master, priority alpha!" Ivo order as he ran from Superboy to which he was blasted by a blast from Amazo.

"Anyone for keep away?" said Robin as he kicked the old man from the MONQI's that tried to help him while Kid Flash rushed to grab him but was knocked away when Amazo, using Superman's power again, slammed its foot to the floor. The shockwave from that sent the speedster flying.

Ivo moved to escape but found himself trapped in a green bubble. He turned to see that Naruto had arrived.

"Going somewhere Professor?" he said.

"Amazo help-" he called out only to see Superboy's fist piercing the androids head. Which then exploded and the now headless android fell to the floor with a loud metal thump.

"Not your day today is it?" Naruto said to Ivo who just sat there in shock at what happened.

"Quick help me disassemble him. Now!" said Robin running towards the robot.

"Dude. He has no head." said Kid Flash.

"Don't take any chances." ordered Aqualad as he and Miss Martian entered the gym

"Superboy are you alright?" she asked helping him after the explosion knocked him away.

"Fine." he said with a smile. "Feeling the aster." he continued looking to Robin who returned it.

"Better later then never huh Greenie?" said Kid Flash.

"Hey don't blame me. Blame his mentor for keeping me at the cave." Naruto said, pointing at Robin to which he shrugged his shoulders.

"At least we managed to get Ivo." said Aqualad.

"Hmph." Ivo grunted.

**(Mount Justice August 4, 1:06 PDT)**

The team and three members of the League and now Green Arrow and Red Tornado met in the central area of the mountain.

"The android is in pieces again and are on their way to Star Labs for further study. Furthermore, Professor Ivo has been sent to Belle Reve Prison for his crimes." Aqualad summarized.

"So we heard when Naruto showed up at the prison along with the records of his crimes. Good work." said Dinah to which Naruto nodded to.

"Though we understand the mission had...complications." said J'onn. They all looked to Superboy who had the decency to look ashamed at his behavior.

"Complications come with the job. Your performance has impressed the League." said Batman.

"The whole League?" Superboy asked.

"Given time yes. Kryptonians as you know have very hard heads. Which can also be said for some humans." said Batman. This gave Superboy some hope.

"Of course there is no weakness in asking for help. That is why the League exists. Because there are some situations that even we as individuals cannot handle alone." said Batman.

"Please." said Robin interrupting the conversation. "If we needed help we would never get the chance." he then pulled out the arrow that saved Kid Flash and giving it to Green Arrow. "Recognize it? You were following us. Babysitting. You still don't trust us!" he accused.

"We didn't follow you." Batman answered as Green Arrow showed one of his arrows and from comparing the the heads, it was clear that the two were very different.

"And that's not your arrow." said Robin accepting the facts.

"The question then is whose arrow is it?" asked Naruto.

"Its gotta be Speedy!" exclaimed Kid Flash.

"He has our backs." said Aqualad.

_'Why do I get the feeling its not this Speedy character's arrow either? I mean its clear that design of the arrow is different but still inspired by Green Arrow. And if what I heard about this Speedy is trying to get away from anything resembling his mentor.'_  said Kurama.

**'Yeah but best not to tell them that. Won't believe me anyway.'**  Naruto thought as Wally rushed to claim the arrow as another souvenir.

"Excuse me." Superboy said to Black Canary. "I'm ready."

"Good. Because I'm here." the veteran said. "See you tomorrow for class then?" she asked.

Superboy nodded an affirmation.

"Get some rest then. And that goes for all of you." she said as the groups dispersed.

"Naruto. Can I speak to you for a moment?" she asked. Naruto waited for a moment seeing Batman leave via Zeta Tube and Red Tornado for his apartment above the central chamber. Only Green Arrow awaited her at the Zeta Tube.

"Is there something else Dinah?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah there is." she said. "Its pretty clear from what everyone saw today that you're no amateur when it comes to fighting. Whether it be on the field or in word play. So you don't need training and anything I come up with for the Team you probably already know by now."

"For the most part yes. Where are you going with this?" Naruto asked.

"I was wondering if you were interested in helping me train the others. Your experience combined with my own would be more beneficial to the rest. Its also clear you can help Superboy more then I can when it comes to direct work. I can teach technique, and you can help with hands on practice." she explained.

Naruto thought about this for a moment. What she said rang true. His experience along with hers would help them immeasurably. Perhaps keep them from making mistakes that he had made earlier in his own career.

**'Besides, with us grounded here except for our monthly visits to home what else asides from fighting crime here do you have?'** Kurama pointed out.

"Would I be able to include new lessons in as well?" Naruto asked, already getting some ideas.

"Absolutely." Dinah said without hesitation.

"Then you just got yourself a partner." he said holding out his hand, which she accepted, shaking firmly.

"Awesome. See you tomorrow then." she called back, running to her boyfriend.

"Making some new friends?" Green Arrow questioned.

"Relax Ollie. You know I only have eyes on you." she said kissing him which he eagerly returned. From there they exited via Zeta Tube.

Naruto just shook his head and walked to his room. It had been a long day. But turned out okay.

**End Chapter**

_Well here we are again with another chapter finished. I hope it was worth the wait as always. Suffice it to say RL sucks and so does my job but I will not use them as an excuse. But I will inform you that I will be writing my book soon which is why I have put this off til now._

_Just to be clear again, for the last time, I am not abandoning this story unless I croak. So don't worry about it._

_Also the edits you see, along with my betas, will now be included in all the chapters so be prepared to see new versions of all the previous chapters as well. You will find them and the names of them which are now included thanks to qtar1984 along with Nightlance44, Jebest4781, and austinjak0. You probably already noticed the chapters now have titles. That's thanks to qtar1984. Seriously, I never thought anyone would my story this much so thank you again for all your support._

_With that said I would like to point out that among Naruto and DC comics I am a huge Merlin fan and Merlin fanfics. I am also a die hard Mergana fan. Which is why I'm suggesting that you read The Apprentice on that part of the site. Its new and just starting but I see a whole lot of promise for it. If any of you are also Merlin fans please give this a look and don't be afraid to review._

_See you all next time._


	12. New Team Dynamics

**(Ajnin, Konoha, Fourth Great Ninja War Memorial Building)**

The Gokage of the Shinobi Alliance, now known as the Shinobi Union, had decided soon after Naruto left, that graveyards for the dead would not be enough for the heroes of those days of war. Though it was short as it was it was bloody, it had changed Ajnin forever. And so it was that each village would have a structure built to memorialize those that had fallen.

Naruto was currently in the building with the memorial wall for those who had died in the conflict with Madara and the Akatsuki. In the center of that wall was the pictures of the six Jinchuuriki that didn't live to see the end of the war.

"Naruto." a familiar voice called out. He turned to see his old friend Gaara walking towards him. "I thought I'd find you here."

"It was either here or the graveyard." said Naruto. Looking at him, he could see that peace suited Gaara well. His hair was still the same though he now wore a long sleeve buttoned up shirt with pants to match with a brown belt and a smaller sand gourd on his waist.

"The others are waiting at the Gokage office." he said.

"Best not to keep them waiting then." said Naruto as they walked out.

"Why did you come here?" Gaara asked.

"I never got to see it before. I wanted to see it for once. Especially when I found out that they put up one for the Jinchuuriki that died" said Naruto.

"Yes. We thought that putting their images here would help people to see that they weren't demons or monsters. That they had families of their own." said Gaara. "You met them, or images of them during your battle with Tobi. Do you think they would approve?"

"Yeah. I think they would." said Naruto with a smile. "But I didn't come and skip my game with Shikamaru to reminisce. I need to speak to you and the others."

He formed a bubble construct around Gaara and himself and flew them toward the Hokage's Tower that stood up from the Konoha Ninja Academy.

**(Administration, Gokage Office)**

Naruto and Gaara arrived the Hokage office and soon move to the newly from Gokage office. It was here that all the Kage of the Elemental Nations would meet once a month or for an emergency.

The information Naruto had would prove to be such an emergency.

As he entered the office he saw all the current Kage that were still present.

Lady Tsunade was sitting down with Kakashi next to her since he was the chosen successor for her. A stood next to here with a now fully re-grown left arm thanks to Tsunade's research with the White Zetsu. Mei Terumi was standing with Onoki. All seemed unchanged since the two years he had left.

What surprised him were the other two guests sitting on the desk.

"Fukasaku. Shima." said Naruto looking at the two toads that stood on the desk. "What are you guys doing here?"

"That's the first question that pops in your mind?" Shima asked. "You leave the whole planet without saying goodbye to us, decided to inform us after the first month you were gone and now you may have brought news on an old enemy and think to keep us in the dark again? Not going to happen!" the elderly toad matron screamed.

Naruto could only sigh as he remembered too well how he had to ask forgiveness for forgetting to tell the toads. Especially Gamakichi. Though in his defense between him getting the ring with Sakura's death still hanging on him at the time he wasn't much in thinking mode. Though back then that was kind'a the norm.

"Well it's a good thing you are here then." said Naruto.

"With that out of the way can we please get to the reason we are here?" Mei asked to the agreement of the other Kage.

Naruto held up his ring hand and projected a view screen just large enough for everyone to see.

"This was a live stream of an attack Taleron III. It's one planet in Khundian Empire space that managed to resist being annexed up until now by using a combination of advanced weaponry and guerilla warfare. Unfortunately the Khundians decided to call the Sinestro Corps to send someone to deal with the problem." said Naruto as the video began playing.

What they saw was a city under siege as it was set ablaze with laser and gun fire. The city's advanced defender tanks being blown apart or cut to shreds. After that the ground troops were being slaughtered by the Corps member wielding a sword.

What stood out him was that he wasn't using a construct. It was in fact, the legendary Kusanagi sword that the person wielded along with construct versions of other ninja weapons.

And the identity of the person using it was unmistakable as they saw the pale skin, yellow snake like eyes and long black hair of a man that had vanished after the Fourth Great Ninja War.

"Orochimaru." Tsunade hissed.

"He was probably sent there to appease the Khundians after I stopped the attack on  
Betrassus." said Naruto deactivating the image of their old enemy.

"And he did so in a manner that everyone would notice, including us." said Tsunade.

"Has there been any activity from the remnants of the Sound village he had created or from the bases we have found over the years?" asked Gaara.

"None from anywhere wither it was his old hideout where Sasuke joined with him, to his base in the Kusagakure, the Land of Iron base, not even his lab on Demon Island. It's like they vanished." said Kakashi.

"If you want we can provide additional scouts to look into these areas see if we can help in case you missed something." said A.

"Us as well." said Onoki with nods from Mei.

"We will also be double checking Ryuchi Cave to see if any of the snakes are being summoned. Though I doubt the White Snake Sage will be forthcoming." said Fukasaku.

"That's all well and good but I don't think it matters aside from snake summons." said Naruto. "He made sure that we all see this but to make sure that I knew where he was and which Corps found him as a candidate. I doubt he will be returning to Ajnin anytime soon but its best to be prepared."

"Which then leads to another topic I want to discuss." said Mei. "So far we haven't had any sort of response from another alien species since Naruto started being a Green Lantern for this sector. Which is well and good but sooner or later they are going to find out about the origin of the man who has given so much to the sector if what Lady Tsunade had told us is true when you saved that planet."

"You told them about Betrassus?" said Naruto.

"As a member of the Gokage that we formed soon after you left we hold no secrets from each other when it comes to our villages citizens." said Tsunade with a smirk.

"The fact is then that we need to start getting ready for the day that the galaxy starts to notice our planet in the grand scheme of things. And we were thinking of maybe being more proactive on that front." said Onoki.

"You mean like going out into space? As in build a ship?" Naruto asked. They all nodded in response. Naruto then put his hand to his chin and paced for a few moments. He then turned and answered.

"I know someone who could help. And a friend in Corps who has been itching to come here for awhile to learn more or our medical techniques for two years. But it has to be without the Guardians finding out anything about our techniques or jutsus. And when I mean Guardians I mean anyone who is short, blue and not named Ganthet or Sayd. In fact if need be ask if either one can come with. Is that clear?" Naruto explained.

Kakashi and the Gokage looked to each other for a moment before consenting.

"Then I think it's a great idea. You're right. The time for Ajnin getting in noticed by the galactic community is coming and we do need to be ahead of that when it comes." said Naruto.

"We will start looking for volunteers. See who is willing to go up to the stars." said A. "Personally, I'm not going. I need to stay here."

"And the old man here isn't for obvious reasons." said Mei.

"Hey! I can if I say-" Onoki began before his back gave out on him again and was groaning in pain.

They laughed seeing that.

"Well if that's all guys I need to get back to Earth. Gott'a get to training the others. I will send you the designs for a ship on my next visit." said Naruto turning to leave.

"Naruto why don't want the council to know anything about our jutsu or anything about yourself for that matter?" Gaara asked.

"Because I don't want them trying to replicate anything from us. I want us to stay as exclusive when it comes to that as we can." said Naruto.

"You make it sound like there are other species that can have a chakra network besides us." said Kakashi. This made Naruto silent for a moment. "Are there?"

"I don't yet. But since our chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy then who's to say. It's a big universe." said Naruto. "One more thing. Granny did you get what I asked for?"

"Yes I did." said Tsunade pulling scrolls. "The scrolls for rest of the elemental affinities including, thanks to the fellow Kage, techniques for Lava, Magnet, and Boil Releases as per your request. Though I thought you were just sticking with Wind and Lightning?"

"Those will still be my primaries. But thanks to being exposed to the Tailed Beast Chakra I have now have more to work with. Best to know the jutsu in case the situation in a battlefield changes." Naruto stated using his ring to put them into a scroll construct. "Since I'm training the Team its best I also train myself to be better as well. In all aspects."

"Training the team to better themselves and also bettering yourself." said Mei. "An admirable way of thinking. Some might say a good one for a leader."

"Anyway I gott'a go. Tell Shikamaru our game is postponed but I will be playing him again when I get back." said Naruto quickly changing the subject while putting the construct on his back.

"I will let him know." said Tsunade as Naruto ran out the door. Then Naruto rushed back and pop his head in.

"And tell him to take Temari out more. Don't let him lose that girl." said Naruto.

"Aren't you worried about Hinata with Kiba?" Kakashi asked.

"Nah she can take care of herself. Plus I hear they hit it off and moving in so they're okay in my book." said Naruto.

"Get going Naruto!" called out Tsunade to which Naruto smiled and headed her orders and left.

"Do you think that what he said may be possible?" asked Mei

"Like he said it's a big universe out there. In any case Kakashi and I have a list of volunteers to write. I suggest we all do the same." said Tsunade.

"Great, more paperwork." said Kakashi in a the missing the old days tone. The rest walked out of the office as well though he could see that looks of dismay at doing their jobs as well.

"There are days where sometimes I wish it was the old days. More action and less paperwork." said Onoki. "Now I have to find someone else to take this job faster. I hate it!"

"Tsunade at least has someone to fill her shoes and do the paperwork." said A.

"I'm standing right here!" said Kakashi.

"C'mon." said Tsunade as they followed the others out and they headed back to her office.

"I get the feeling Naruto made the right call not to be Hokage. I'll bet he said just to avoid the paperwork." said Tsunade.

"We both know that whatever he's doing with this Team on Earth is probably more work than we do any day." said Kakashi.

Tsunade had a sinking feeling that he was right.

**(Mount Justice)**

Wally sped across the room for a few seconds before once again landing on his back from slipping.

"Damn it why the hell are we forced to wear these thin sole shoes every time we warm up?" he asked as Dinah over and helped him up.

"To help you with your footwork." said Dinah.

"As we have stated to you three times now." said Naruto getting a little annoyed with the complaints from him. Which thankfully, were only from him.

Days after the fight with Amazo, Naruto and Dinah got together to figure out the route on how to train them in combat. They then both agreed that getting the team these thin leather shoes would help them improve their footwork. The shoes caused the wearer to slip when distributing ones weight poorly so they were good at highlighting any flaws in a person's footwork.

They took the warm up routine rather well. M'gann asked why she needed to learn since she mostly flies but Naruto explained that sometimes you have to face your enemy face to face and will be forced to the ground at times. The one who had the most complaints was Wally as every time he tried to use his super speed he slipped and fell on his ass.

"Alright everyone warm up is over. We're going to be doing sparing today. Robin and Kid Flash with me. M'gann, Kaldur and Superboy with Naruto." ordered Black Canary.

They moved to their respective places and began.

"Alright. Kaldur I want you and M'gann to go against each other. And make sure to try and use your shape shifting like we practiced M'gann. Try to envision your body as a weapon construct. Kaldur try to keep your water constructs varied from weapon to weapon." Naruto instructed.

"Understood." said Kaldur with M'gann nodding in return. Since becoming assistant instructor to Dinah, Naruto focused on these three while she handled Robin and Wally. They decided on this mainly because of Naruto being a Green Lantern with a ring that could project whatever shape he needed. The same could be said for those two.

With Kaldur it was simple. Water was formless and his water bearers with his magical training in them allowed him to change them into any form that he needed much like Naruto's ring. However, Kaldur mostly preferred swords, whips, and maces. So his job was to get Kaldur to be less predictable and less traditional. Expand his possibilities.

For the young Martian, Naruto knew it was going to be more tricky given that her shape shifting, along with her other powers, were still raw in terms of skills with them and just by whatever age or experience difference between her and her uncle. But given time he was training her to shape her body into a weapon, whether trying to form her hands into blades to even moving her organs around to avoid fatal blows. Though she stated that her mental powers would still be her first thing to work on.

And Superboy was there mainly because Naruto could handle whatever bruising that the boy might, key word might, manage on him. Strong though he was he still wasn't at Superman's level. Which was a concern for them.

"Superboy. Let's go." Naruto said gesturing to him while removing his red hooded jacket.

The Boy of Steel smiled and took his place in the center of the computerized mat beneath them. He started with jabs aimed at the face, which Naruto managed to deflect easily. He switched to right and left crosses which Naruto also dodged, blocked, and deflected to teach Superboy to counter attack by redirecting blows. It continued for a few minutes in which Naruto not only deflected punches but also watched the boy move.

He had improved but his boxing technique was still wild and had holes. Then came the inevitable frustration which led Superboy to rush and overextend his right straight. Naruto pressed his own attack feinting a right cross before low kicking across his knee, which gave out from the sudden pain. Naruto pulled a spinning back fist and a spinning roundhouse kick combo that sent the young man to the ground with a hard thud.

"You're still rushing in like a charging boar absent any thought of your attacks. And therefore no plan." said Naruto walking to him as Superboy stood up albeit a bit slow wiping his mouth of blood from the cut on his lip which healed quickly.

"When faced with a more powerful opponent, draw him to you, then counter." said Naruto placing his fist on the boy's chest to further emphasize the point. "Again." Naruto ordered.

Naruto pressed the attack first and Superboy managed to block the first two jabs before getting side kicked in the stomach. Naruto moved for a right cross which the boy ducked under. Naruto then flew in with a straight which Superboy countered and threw a right hand again. Naruto dodged it but didn't see the Superboy twist and use a spinning back fist. A rare mistake on his part and he felt the attack land, forcing him back.

Everyone stopped for a moment as Naruto held his jaw from the attack. He looked at Superboy with a smile on his face.

"Finally! My words have pierced your thick skull." Naruto said. Superboy smiled back at that.

"Superboy." Dinah called out. "Practice your grappling with Kaldur."

The boy of steel looked to Naruto who confirmed the order. He left to join up with Kaldur. Robin went on to train with Wally, the young speedster having to move at normal speed.

Naruto then walked over to Dinah.

"You've done well with him so far." she said.

"Superboy is still undisciplined but he is not without promise. Which sums up the whole team." Naruto said.

"Very true. Except everyone else has a mentor they have. His is still absent. That is something that must be addressed and soon. Lack of someone who is supposed to be your mentor can be debilitating." Dinah said.

"You sound like someone who has done counseling sessions." Naruto said.

"Well along with being trained by some of the best fighters on the planet I also have a degree in psychology. I figured I could help some of my friends and other heroes when the need arose." Dinah said.

"A wise idea." Naruto said with approval. "And you're right. Superboy's situation with Superman must be addressed, and sooner rather than later. Though I don't think he is the major problem."

"Then who is?" she asked. Naruto gestured to Wally who was once again on the ground. "Oh."

"Wally isn't getting the training done with his footwork. Mainly because he finds it boring. He relies too much on his speed and not enough on proper technique. He also has a serious ego issue. In short he's a good guy but needs some refinement. More than even Superboy." Naruto explained.

"Then we will have to just get him interested. I have an idea to help him with his footwork that might work." said Dinah

"Good. Though you might have to wait a bit. School for him is about to start." Naruto said.

"I'm a patient woman. At least when it comes to this." Dinah said with a smile.

It was then that Dinah called time and the session was over after that.

"Still don't see why improving my foot work has anything to do with my speed." Kid Flash mumbled to himself.

Naruto just shook his head as he watched him pass.

"In any case I better get going." said Naruto quickly transforming into his uniform.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To talk with a certain someone about a favor." he said with a tone that indicated that he didn't want to talk with this person.

"The person wouldn't happen to dress like a bat would he?" she inquired though she got the feeling she already knew the answer. "Fair warning. He doesn't like it very much when someone enters his city without permission."

"I understand." said Naruto as he walked to the Zeta Tube.

"And he will want something in return whatever your favor is." she warned.

"I know." said Naruto as he put in his key code at the Zeta Tube. "That's what I'm afraid of." And then he vanished in the tube.

**(Gotham City)**

Despite what he thought of him, Naruto had enough respect for Batman to not openly interfere with any major cases he may have been working on in what he deemed his city. So Naruto took out some smaller crimes. From a mugging attempt on someone to even an attempted sexual assault Naruto flashed his ring around town. The last one he left the four men that attacked the young lady more than a little beaten up while at the same time using his ring to call the police and console the young lady.

Then Naruto just stood on a roof and waited.

"Took you long enough." said Naruto. He then turned around and saw Batman standing behind him. He could already tell he was not happy.

"I take it Black Canary told you how I feel about others coming to my city?" The Dark Knight asked.

"Yeah. So can we skip the lecture." said Naruto beating him to the punch "Oh and you're welcome. For the minor crimes I stopped while you were on the case finding the Scarecrow."

"How did you know about that?" Batman asked.

"After I stopped the gang rape attempt I overheard one the police officer talk about how he was targeting the mayor tonight. And that he was glad someone was keeping the peace while you were after him." Naruto explained.

Batman grumbled at that. "I take you didn't come here just to give me some help." he said. "What do you want?"

"As hard as this is I need a favor." said Naruto.

"A favor from me? After what you said to me? You're joking." Batman responded.

"Not from Batman. From Bruce Wayne." said Naruto.

Batman raised his eyebrow under his mask. "I'm listening."

"Wayne Enterprises is one of the biggest companies when it comes to technological advancements. The other of course being Lexcorp." Naruto pointed out to begin with. "I suppose one of those advancements would happen to be space travel?"

"It would." Batman admitted getting the feeling that lying to the young lantern would be a futile gesture. "You looking to build a space ship?"

"Just designs for one." said Naruto.

"It can't be for you. You don't need a ship with your ring. So it would be for your people then." Batman deduced.

**'Careful.'**  Kurama advised in Naruto's head. 'Don't give him too much.'

Naruto made sure to take that advice going forward.

"Yes. My people have been aware of the universe at large for a little while. Since I got my ring and joined the Corps. So far we haven't had any issues with any other races yet but that will change. My world's government knows this and want to get ahead of this. It would start with the construction of one ship. Just to explore my sector of the galaxy. Maybe cross over into others. But we have no basis to get started on building one. That's why I need your help." Naruto explained.

"And the name of your world's government would be?" he questioned.

"The Shinobi Union lead by the Gokage of my planet." said Naruto. "And before you get any ideas this government is subservient to its nation's civilian governments and are allowed to run their own lives. It's a lot like your United Nations. We are not a dictatorship. Each of the five Kage are democratically elected and work for the interests of the people. Which is more than can be said for the governments of this planet last I checked."

Batman had to concede on that one.

"What you're asking for isn't impossible. But before I consider saying yes I want something in return." said Batman.

"And let me guess it isn't money." said Naruto to which the Dark Knight nodded. "I just told you that my government isn't a military dictatorship. What else could you want?"

"You're powers. The way you were able to control the elements. How are you able to do that?" Batman questioned.

Naruto dreaded this. He knew as soon as he went to the Dark Knight he would want info on his abilities. He had somewhat hoped that info on his home world would suffice but at the same time he knew it wasn't

**'Time to bite the bullet kid.'**  said Kurama.

_'Doesn't mean I have to like it.'_  Naruto responded.

"Fine." Naruto sighed. "I might as well tell you since a criminal from our world has joined the Sinestro Corps. The reason I have these abilities is because I have a secondary circulatory system. My whole race has it. It's called the Chakra Network. The reason it's called that is because instead of blood it pumps the power of our techniques use, called Chakra, a mix of physical energy of the body and spiritual energy that comes from the mind." said Naruto

Batman took a moment to think on what he said pacing on the rooftop before turning back to the young shinobi.

"So it's basically like the Chinese Meridian System, only weaponized with your Chakra in place of chi." he stated.

Naruto paused, looking up the term in his Galactic Encyclopedia before answering. "Pretty much." said Naruto. "That's all you're getting from me. Do we have a deal?"

Batman took another few moments before making his decision.

"Alright. I have a design in mind that I think would be exactly what you need. Provided that you inform me of any upgrades that you're people have done to it along with information on this criminal you referred to." he said.

"Deal." said Naruto "When can expect the ship design?"

"You will get it before the next Team mission." said Batman.

Naruto nodded and turned to leave. But he did want to make something clear.

"This will be a one time thing Batman. I'm not telling you anything else." he said.

"Still don't trust me then?" Batman questioned though he knew the answer already.

"No I don't." said Naruto as he flew off.

Batman just shrugged. "Can't blame him for that." He fired his grappling hook and swung off.

**'Naruto.'**  Kurama called out as they flew back to Mount Justice.

_'What is it?_ ' Naruto responded.

_'I know you said it would be the last time but I was thinking of someway that the other Tailed Beasts might be able to help with space travel as well. Or at least something for when in fighting in space. I know you don't like it, hell I don't like it either, but we may to turn for Bat's help again.'_ said Kurama.

_'Don't worry Partner. When that time comes we should be able to build ships on our own. From there we'll figure out how to get the other Beasts in on the space battles as well. You have my word. At the moment though I think I've said enough to him.'_ said Naruto. Kurama nodded. From then it was silence on the way back.

**(Mount Justice Day Time)**

"Hello Megan! We should go to the beach more often!" stated the very excited M'gann as she and the rest of the Team, including Naruto, arrived on the beach near Mount Justice.

Naruto and the rest could not help but share in it. After the tense meeting with Batman, he decided that he could uses some R&R. That is of course after a lengthy training session he had by himself in a empty area on a mountain side in the Himalayas late that night. Suffice it to say there were more than a few craters from that.

He looked to the others who were in their bathing suits. When M'gann said that today they were going on the beach to have the day to themselves Naruto and Kurama figured why not join them. He was part of the Team. So he managed to find a pair of orange swim trunks from the clothes that Hal had procured for him and joined them.

"First a moment of silence for our poor absent comrade." said Robin who bowed his head.

"Poor Wally." said M'gann sad fully.

"Yeah Wally has to go to school while we go out and play." said Naruto as they had their silence. "We done guys?"

The others then perked up and went about their play. First of course was basically playing in the water like anyone would. Which then gave Naruto an idea.

"Hey Kaldur." Naruto called out. "You up for a little light training exercise?"

"Naruto the point of being on the beach is to avoid stressful activity. Such as training." Robin who was splashing against M'gann before Superboy came in with a cannonball from high altitude. M'gann laughing at the joy of it all.

"It won't take long and it's not strenuous." Naruto explained.

"Very well." said Kaldur. Naruto then activated his ring's energy field and went deep underwater as Kaldur followed.

"Kaldur you're main weapon is water. Hence why you need those bearers of yours to channel it through those tattoos on your arms." said Naruto.

"Yes. As I gained and learned them from Queen Mera at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis before I became the protégé of King Orin. The man you know as Aquaman." said the young Atlantean.

"And you use them to create weapons mostly. Even while in your home element." said Naruto to which Kaldur nodded. Naruto then formed a number of hand signs confusing the Team leader.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" he declared suddenly. From the water itself a dragon had formed before them. Then it rushed towards a rock face in the water and crushed it on impact.

Kaldur watched eyes wide and mouth wide open at the sight before him.

"That is one of the techniques at from my home world. Techniques that allow my race, to varying degrees, control the elements. Point is here I can do whatever kind of water technique I want. And though not the same, with your magic you can do the same thing." Naruto explained.

"I never thought about that." said Kaldur looking at the water with a new perspective. "What you did was something I've only seen Queen Mera or the more advanced students at the Conservatory be able to do."

"And you can do the same. Water manipulation is something you already have down. All you need to do is expand your mind to the possibilities and use your imagination. Cause here, underwater, you can be near unstoppable." said Naruto.

_'Guys if you are done with the lesson we are cooking some hot dogs for lunch.'_  M'gann said telepathically.

_'On our way.'_  Naruto responded. "Think about what I said Kaldur. And remember use your imagination." said Naruto.

"I will." said Kaldur. Naruto nodded and they floated back to the surface for the meal. From then on the day proceeded to a game of volley ball to burying Superboy in sand while he laid there.

Naruto on the other hand went back to the water and swam some more since swimming helped him relax. It helped when he was thinking about the Meridian system Batman mentioned.

**'You're still worried about the possibility that maybe our race isn't the only ones who can have a chakra network aren't you?'** Kurama asked.

_'Aren't you?'_  Naruto asked.

**'Yeah a little bit. Not as much as you though apparently.'**  said Kurama.

_'That's because you are not the one who has to make the decision on whether or not, if humans have a chakra network, should I awaken it like Hagoromo did for the Ajnians. Besides, Orochimaru has probably researched the possibility that other races can use chakra already or he will eventually, and I can't afford to be caught off guard'_ Naruto said as he floated in the sea back side up looking at his right hand.

The hand that once bore the sun symbol that he inherited to match Sasuke's moon symbol before they had sealed Kaguya.

**'Look Naruto. As someone who knew Hagoromo I gotta tell you he made a lot of bad calls before his time was over. The biggest you already know with his sons. Now giving the Ajnians chakra and trying to teach them the religion of Ninshu was all good on paper and it did give people Ninjutsu.'**  Kurama explained.

_'Which is the weaponized version of what he taught. And Ajnian was at war at one time or another for Kami knows how long._ ' Naruto stated.

**'Until you stopped it. Granted you suffered tragedy from the end result, killing you're former best friend who killed the girl you loved at the time, but you stopped it. Point is if anyone is more qualified to decide how humans, who may or may not have potential chakra networks, how they should they be taught and who among them can handle that responsibility that's you.'**  said Kurama.

Naruto floated in silence as he clinched his hand into a fist.

_'I hope you're right.'_ said Naruto.

**'I am. Though if you do give chakra to people please be selective.'** said his partner. That put a smile on his face.

_"Naruto this is Kaldur. Batman has reported with a mission for the Team. You are needed." s_ aid the Atlantean via his earpiece.

"Roger that on my way." said Naruto picking himself up on the water and started walking back to Mount Justice. "Anything else I should know?"

_"Green Arrow is also in the Cave with his new protégé and she wants to join the Team."_ said Kaldur.

"Well our ranks just keep growing." said Naruto as he approached the Team who saw him walking on the water. "What you guys never seen someone walk on water before?"

Kaldur was the first to shake it off and ordered the Team to get back. Once there they changed into their uniforms and waited in the main chamber waiting for Wally to appear. Along with Batman and Red Tornado there was Green Arrow and a young teenage girl with them.

Said girl appeared to be of mixed descent. Half-Caucasian and Half-Vietnamese with blond hair tied in a pony tail. She had a slender yet athletic build which made Naruto believe that she had been trained before meeting Green Arrow.

Her uniform consisted of a sleeveless top which showed off her midriff and was in shades of green. Obviously to coincide with her mentor's look. Her mask covered her hairline and her cheek bones leaving her eyes and mouth open. She also fingerless gloves, combat boots, and a utility belt.

And like her supposed mentor she had a bow and quiver which Naruto assumed held multi-purpose arrows within.

Before anyone could ask who she was the Zeta Tube activated and reveal Wally. However, he was in full beach mode with a radio and everything strapped to his back.

"The Wall man is here! Let's get this party start-" he began before tripping over his sandals and falling on his face dropping a beach ball sending it bouncing right over Batman's stoic stature.

Naruto face palmed seeing this.

"Did you give him the message saying that we had a mission briefing?" he whispered to Aqualad.

"I did. Apparently he didn't receive it." Kaldur grumbled.

"Wow Wall Man. Cool code name." said what they all assumed was their new teammate sarcastically. "Just what are your powers?"

"Uh who are you?" Wally asked while still on the ground.

"Artemis. You're new team mate." she said with pride.

"Kid Flash. Never heard of you." Wally said mockingly.

Before things could escalate, Green Arrow stepped in.

"She's my new protégé." he said.

_'Kinda obvious given how her outfit resembles his.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"What happened to your old one?" Wally asked. It was then the Zeta-Tube activated once again.

" _Recognized: Speedy. B06."_ said the computer as a tall auburn young man arrived. He sported gear similar to Artemis and their mentor only he was decked out in red and wore a domino mask.

"Well for starters he doesn't go by Speedy anymore." he declared. "Call me Red Arrow."

_'How original.'_ quipped Kurama.

"Roy you look-"

"Replaceable it seems." said Roy interrupting Green Arrow.

"It isn't like that you told me you were going solo." said his mentor.

"So why waste time looking for a sub? Can she even use that bow?" he asked as if not noticing she was standing right in front of them.

To say that Artemis was getting frustrated was an understatement. Before she could call him out someone else stepped in.

"I'm pretty sure that she can given that she's here." said Naruto as he stood in front of the pair.

The newly christened Red Arrow sized up the newcomer in the conversation. "Didn't know Green Lanterns took protégé's. Guess they have a junior league there too." said Roy.

"Actually I'm fully trained as I'm sure Artemis is. And for the record I spared you're mentor from further harm at the hands of a killer android a few days ago." Naruto stated.

"And he saved Dinah's life. So a little respect would be in order." Green Arrow said. Anyone who saved his girlfriend was okay in his book. As long as they never hit on her that is.

This gave Roy time to pause when Wally decided to jump into it was well.

"Who are you?" he asked directing the question to the young girl in question.

"She's/I'm his/my niece." they both said at the same time.

_'Well that's a lie straight up. And not even a coordinated one at that.'_ thought Naruto.

'Yeah and you can bet that Bats is in on it and Robin saw the same thing you did.' Kurama pointed out given the smile and the fact that he pointed out on Ollie having a niece in a questioning tone.

"But you are not being replaced." said Kaldur trying to reason with his old friend. "We have always wanted you on the Team and we have no quota on archers."

"Beside if we did you know who we would pick." said Wally in a gesture of good will.

"Though not all of us would agree with that." Naruto said already not liking the entitled attitude of the third archer in the room. Having heard of how he walked out on his friends before their unofficial first mission into Cadmus.

"Like he said." said Artemis. "So get used to it Baywatch. I'm here to stay."

It was then that Roy began to walk off before Kaldur walked up to him.

"You came to us for a reason." said Kaldur.

"Yeah a reason by the name of Doctor Serling Roquette." Roy stated.

Robin pulled up the doctor's information on the screens in the room.

"Nanorobotics genius and claytronics expert at the Royal University at Star City. Vanished two weeks ago." Robin stated.

"Abducted two weeks ago. By the League of Shadows." said Roy.

"Wow. You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Robin questioned with excitement.

"Hardcore." said Wally fist bumping with his friend.

"Sorry to kill the enthusiasm guys but I'm guessing he rescued the doctor from them already." said Naruto. "Though I'm guessing there's something else involved in this case."

"You're right. There is one other problem." said Roy bringing up designs on a weapon that looked like an advanced canister.

"The Shadows had already coerced her into making a weapon. Doc calls it the Fog. Millions of microscopic robots and fly out into a fog to the naked eye." said Roy.

"Hence the name." said Robin.

"Yeah. Nanoscopic infiltrators that disintegrate anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh and bone." said Roy. "But it isn't just destruction. Their real goal is theft. They infiltrate computer systems then eat and store the raw data inside them and deliver it right to the Shadows. Providing weapon designs, strategic defense, classified assignments, advanced science and tech. You name it they take it."

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, and power broking. Sounds like the Shadows." said Artemis.

"Like you know anything about the Shadows." said Wally with a smirk.

"She might know more than some people." said Naruto which earned a glared from Wally but a smile from Artemis.

"Why are you taking her side?" he asked.

"I'm not. But it would be stupid to just assume she doesn't know anything Wally." said Naruto.

"Anyway," said Roy. "Roquette is working on a virus that will make the Fog inert."

"But if the Shadows know she can do that..." said Robin.

"Like any assassin group they will target her before she can finish." said Naruto. "Where did you put her?"

"I stashed her in the local schools computer lab." the young archer stated pulling up the image of the school.

"You left her alone?" his mentor questioned.

"She's safe enough for now." said Red Arrow.

"In that school where there are enough windows for someone to crash through if they wanted to be obvious. Or better yet a rookie sniper could take her out from like several meters away if not miles. And don't even get me started on the numerous vents in the school where someone could crawl through and again kill her." Naruto listed. "Other than those she's perfectly safe."

"You got a problem with how I do things?" Roy challenged.

"When you're being an ignorant asshole with someone's life yeah I do." said Naruto glaring down. "My first mission as a Lantern involved getting into a fortress to save a fellow Green Lantern and the best way I found was through the strongholds vents. And it was still more secure than a high school. If I can do that, then the League of Shadows, who I assume have more than a handful of capable assassins, can do the same in a less than secure building."

Roy looked to the other and they, even Wally, seemed to agree. Though Green Arrow decided to try and play peacekeeper.

"Okay guys let's take a breather alright." he said making sure that Naruto and Roy were away from each other. "He has a point though. So lets you and I keep it that way.

"You and I?" Roy questioned. "Don't you want to take your new protégé?"

This time it was Batman who put a hand on his colleague's shoulder. Green Arrow then calmed himself.

"You brought this to the Team. It's their mission. Which means its hers now too." he responded.

"Then my job is done." Roy scoffed before pushing his way past Naruto and back to the Zeta Tube.

_"Recognized: Speedy."_  said the computer.

"That's Red Arrow. B06 Update." said Roy as he disappeared. Naruto then couldn't help but notice how Wally still glared at Artemis which she returned in kind.

' _Oh this is going to be fun.'_ he thought to himself. Before he left he saw Batman with a datapad and walked over to him.

"Is that it?" he asked. Batman gave him the pad and Naruto looked at the design for a new spacecraft. The code name on the file was "Javelin".

"Everything you need is on the pad. I'm sure it will be satisfactory for your people." said Batman.

Naruto nodded before using his ring to scan the contents of the pad. After he was done he handed it back to the Dark Knight.

"My ring has copied the information. I will send it to my people's computers so they can study it and get to work." he said.

"And you will keep me informed of any changes that are made when the ship is built?" Batman asked.

"As per our agreement." Naruto grumbled. "If we are through my Team needs me."

Batman nodded and Naruto flew to the Docking Bay to join the others.

**(Happy Harbor)**

The Team arrived at the school where Roquette was working on the virus. M'gann was outside on look out duty while the rest of the Team including Naruto stay inside with the Doctor.

_"Miss Martian link us up. We do not want the Shadows intercepting our comm."_  order Aqualad telepathically. A moment later Naruto felt the connection with Kurama once again preventing anyone from finding out about him.

_"Everyone online?"_  M'gann asked to which everyone confirmed.

_"Wow this is weird."_  Artemis mentioned getting used to hearing everyone in her head.

_"And distracting."_  Serling responded while typing on her keyboard as she configured the virus.  _"Bad enough that I have to create an algorithm in a computer with less RAM then a wrist watch. Now I have to hear teens speak in my skull!_?"

_"Lady you sure do complain a lot when people are trying to help you."_  said Wally who was in stealth mode along with Aqualad eating a snack bar.

_"Pot. Kettle."_ said Artemis stating that Kid Flash was the same way.

_"Hey I don't need lip from the newbie. Especially when she made sure that Red Arrow was driven off the Team._ " said Wally.

_"Do not pin that on me."_  said Artemis.

_"Enough both of you. We have bigger issues then the two of you arguing over this."_ said Naruto putting his foot down.  _"And before you say it I don't care who started it. It's over now."_

They both stood in silence after that with Wally taking another bite of his snack.

_"I think I will help Miss Martian and Superboy patrol the perimeter."_  she said walking off.

_"You might want to consider giving her some slack. It was her arrow that saved you from Amazo."_ said Robin.

_"No that was Speedy's, I mean Red Arrow's, arrow...right?"_  Kid Flash questioned.

_"Not so much."_  Robin affirmed.

" _Well I'm not going to give her the satisfaction."_  said Kid Flash.

_"You know I can still hear you."_  said Artemis. The speedster groaned in frustration.

_"I just couldn't get the Justice League."_  Serling said pinching her nose. Aqualad decided to pose a query.

_"The computer virus won't be much use if we cannot find the Fog. Can you track it?"_  he asked.

_"First my Utility Fog isn't a weapon. Its science. Brilliant science. And of course I can track it but I have would have to go online. Might as well put up a neon sign that says assassinate me."_ Serling explained. Naruto then moved in and place a hand on her shoulder.

_"You have our word. We will protect you from anyone that even thinks of trying to kill you._ " he said.

Serling hesitated for a moment before pressing the enter key on the computer.

_"Tracking the Fog now. Should not take too long."_  she said.

_"Superboy, Robin head to the Bioship. Miss Martian, prep it for manual control. As soon as the Fog is located head to the location and stop it."_  Aqualad instructed.  _"I will patrol the hall ways and make certain they are secure."_

_"Make sure to check the vents. Trust me on this they are easy to get into."_  said Naruto. Aqualad nodded in response with Kid Flash leaving to guard the door.

Outside Superboy finished patrolling his side of the school and leaped over to the other side to join Miss Martian and Artemis as he prepared to leave on a moment's notice. To which the female archer started to check him out.

_"Mmm that boy."_  she said which had the Boy of Steel turn around.

_"He can hear you. We all can hear you."_  said Miss Martian with a disapproving tone.

_"Oh I know."_ said Artemis as if stating the obvious.

Soon enough Aqualad told them that Serling had located the Fog and Robin and Superboy quickly left on the Bioship to find it before it reached its next target. Which then left Miss Martian and Artemis alone once again.

_"You embarrassed Superboy."_  said the Martian in a tone that suggested a little jealousy perhaps.

_"Didn't hear him say that."_  the archer responded.

_"Must you challenge everything?"_  Miss Martian asked.

_"Where I grew up that is how you survive."_  Artemis responded.

Unknown to them they did not see a woman dressed in a green kimono with a Cheshire cat mask sneak past them as the assailant sneaked into the school. From there she moved into the school.

Kid Flash moped in front of the door until he noticed a shadow on the ground to which he quickly followed. The shadow lead him into the school pool where he rushed in a slipped from a large pile of balls that had been laid out and landed hard on the ground. His last sight was seeing the bottom of a boot before he fell to unconsciousness.

The assassin then pushed him into the water where he might drown. She then sneaked into hallway and cracked the door open a crack. However, instead of seeing Aqualad guarding Serling she instead saw a Green Lantern in the room. Shocked at first at possibly facing the powers of a Lantern she still had a mission to complete from the Shadows. She could only hope to catch him off guard.

So she threw a poisoned shrunken at the Doctor. Which Naruto immediately saw and plucked out of mid air with a tendril from his ring.

"Doctor get down and behind something." said Naruto while mentally telling his teammates that he was under attack. The assassin then burst in and threw three more shrunken at him. This time though Naruto caught them in between the fingers of his gloved right hand while avoiding any contact with his skin and tossing them aside easily.

"Impressive." said the assassin as she pulled out two sais from her back. Naruto answered by creating two kunai constructs.

"Kinda figured you poisoned those shuriken for greater effect in taking out the security of your target." said Naruto as he rushed forward. The two began clashing with their weapons matching strike for strike feeling each other out.

"Well aren't you the smart one of the bunch." she said as she blocked two swipes and a stab by him. These proved to be a feint however as she did not see him forgo one kunai construct which left his left hand free to deliver a palm strike that landed on her face at blinding speed. The force of it sending her backwards to the wall behind her.

Naruto then pressed on sending a front right kick to her. She dodged it but saw the kick leave a crater behind as the foot landed on the wall. She then threw one of her sais at the doctor but Naruto raised his hand.

"Wind Style: Air Blade Jutsu!" he said sending his hand down. From there a blade of wind came down and destroyed the Sai before it was a centimeter to Serling. Cheshire, being the professional she was, kept any surprise she may have on hold as she tried to press her attack hoping to catch the young shinobi of guard.

Which proved for naught as he dodged and deflected her strikes easily. Naruto noted that while she was highly skilled she was not the best kunoichi he ever fought. He fired back with side kick which she blocked but it was another feint as he slid down to kick her legs from under her. He then jumped up to punch her but she avoided it and his punch cratered the ground beneath it.

While in the air however, he jumped up and hit her with a knee to her chin and a spinning roundhouse kick to her stomach sending to the ground again.

The assassin recovered. Before she could do anything else she was disarmed of her remaining Sai by an arrow from behind. She looked to see Artemis there.

"Don't move." said the archer. Cheshire looked between the two of them as she had trouble catching her breath from her brief fight with the Green Lantern.

_'Who just kicked my ass better then Dad did.'_ she thought to herself.

"This is maybe too interesting." Cheshire said. From there she threw a smoke bomb right when Kid Flash rushed in as she disappeared in a puff of smoke almost into Artemis to which he quickly backed away from.

_'Kurama can you track her through her emotions?'_  Naruto asked.

**'No. Strangely enough, other than a few jolts of surprise, she did not seem to experience any negative emotions during the fight. And her scent seems to be gone as well.'**  his partner told him.

"She's getting away! You're letting her get away!" Serling yelled.

"This is all your fault! How that Shadow sneak in here!?" Kid Flash accused to which Artemis glared at him.

"That's not exactly fair. I was outside too." said Miss Martian.

"Outside being distracted by her." said Kid Flash "Besides I can't be mad at you."  _'You gave me mouth to mouth'_

"We heard that!" Naruto and the rest said mentally.

"Dang it!" yelled Kid Flash again. Miss Martian then walked up to Artemis.

"I didn't do half as well in my first battle. And I know you haven't been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long." said Miss Martian.

"Yeah. But Green Lantern had the situation under control. All I did was give her an easy way out." said Artemis.

"She was going to do it anyway whether you came in or not." said Naruto with reassurance. "If anything you added to the pressure on her and helped save Doctor Roquette's life."

Artemis smiled at that.

"Focus everyone. The Shadows will be back." said Aqualad.

"Robin to Aqualad. We are over Philadelphia and have found the Fog's next target. Star Labs. But we're too late the building is destroyed. The Fog decimated it. This is really bad. Star Labs is cutting edge science and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy." Robin reported.

"What's our next move?" Naruto asked. Aqualad turned to Serling.

"Re scan for that Fog. Find it. In the meantime we are moving the doctor. But I do suspect that the Shadows will expect this and after their first failure the assassin will bring in reinforcements." said Aqualad who turned to Naruto. "Any ideas on how to counter it?"

"As a matter of fact I think I do." said Naruto smiling under his mask.

**(Gotham City)**

Professor Ojo drove the van that was carrying the container of the Fog as he parked it right in front of WayneTech building. So far the mission had gone well and it had reached the final phase. He got up from the car seat and moved towards the canister and programmed the micro-bots for their mission. He then opened the van side door and unleashed the Fog onto the building.

He satisfaction however was short lived as he saw a green energy bubble surround the gas cloud of robots which stopped them from going anywhere. He looked to see the Green Lantern from the young heroes who was emitting the bubble from his blasted power ring.

Ojo powered up the eye beam on his helmet preparing to fire when he heard the sound of something heavy landing near him. He turned to see Superboy walking towards him. Self preservation kicked in and he fired at the Boy of Steel instead. Superboy blocked the beam with his arm and grunted from the effort as Ojo tried to destroy him.

He had already lost however as Robin got behind him and knocked him out.

"How long can you keep that up?" the Boy Wonder asked.

"More than long enough." said Naruto "Is the virus uploading yet?"

Robin checked his holo-computer. "Yep. Just need to wait now and the infiltrators will be out-filtrated." he said with a smile. Naruto just shook his head with that phrase.

"What about the others and the Doctor?" Superboy asked.

"Don't worry they got the situation under control." said Naruto.

**(Happy Harbor)**

To say that Cheshire was not having a good night would be an understatement. On her first attempt on Roquette she encounters a Green Lantern. She assumed it was risky facing that kind of caliber but she figured like the rest of the kids she thought he was a rookie at it.

The cracked ribs and the aches and pains she felt said otherwise. She thought that the ring would be her biggest obstacle. But then that Lantern turned out to be a master hand-to-hand combatant.

Then to add to her issues she had to call in Black Spider and Hook for help. They manage to subdue Aqualad, or so she thought, and moved to attack Serling. From there Black Spider and Hook fought Kid Flash and Artemis while she finally managed to get close enough to the doctor to finish the job.

That is until the "doctor" turned her head completely around while she was face first on the ground and turned green. She knew she'd been duped and ran out to find her location while the others fought.

Using the infrared in her mask she managed to trace where Aqualad had gone after not seeing his body where they left him. She soon followed the trail. But not before knocking out Artemis after she went after and tricked her into thinking her knock out gas arrow had subdued her. Though thanks to her mask's air filters that was not a problem.

She found them in the Sandbar Internet Cafe and got to the roof. She threw a gas bomb on the floor past the back door. It went off distracting the Atlantean. By the time he turned around she fired three darts with poison. He managed to resist it at first before striking wildly with punches which she dodged easily and hit him in the head with a side kick to the head knocking him out.

"Finally something easy." she said out loud. "Now Doctor. I'm here for my appointment."

But as she gripped her Sais on her holster she realized something. Aqualad always had water bearers and fought with them. Usually using sword constructs. She then turned to the unconsciousness boy only to see him disappear in a puff of smoke. Her instincts saved her as she flipped from her spot on the ground just as it exploded below her. When she landed she was face to face with the Green Lantern once again.

"Sorry the Doctor is busy at the moment. But if you would like to make an appointment I can take a message." he joked. He held up his right hand and silently beckoned her to bring it.

She shook off her surprise and moved in swiping at him. He dodged her attacks again before getting behind her and grabbing her collapsible ninjato from her back as she tried to kick him to which he ducked. He then unfolded the sword and held it reversed grip behind him.

"Why take my weapons when you have that ring of yours?" she asked. Then she noticed that he didn't seem to have his ring on him which only made her further confused. She shook it off when he didn't answer as he moved forward an attacked.

As it turned out he was just as good with a sword as with a kunai and hand-to-hand as she could barely keep up with him defensively never mind attack. As they clashed blades Naruto feinted a sword strike and hit her with a two kick combo to the stomach and face to which she recovered and kept fighting.

"It's done!" Serling said mentioning the virus is uploaded causing a pause in the fight.

"Virus is uploaded. Which mean the Fog is done. And the reason for going after her is gone too." said Naruto.

"Though not the entertainment value." said Cheshire though Naruto could see that she was bluffing. Like Kurama said there was no negative emotions coming from her even while they fought. Unless you count her frustration into it.

"As you wish." said Naruto who then threw her Ninjato into the window crashing it. Cheshire turned for a second but it was too late as she felt a gust of wind suddenly force her through the window with a loud thud as he heard her land on the concrete.

"Stay here I will be right back." he said turning his head to Serling. He then jumped out of the window and looked to find her only to have her gone. All that was there was her mask.

"Crap. She's better than I thought." Naruto said to himself. He then went back inside the cafe to check on Roquette.

Meanwhile, Cheshire managed to hide in an alleyway nearby. She had trouble controlling her breathing at the moment since getting her ass beat not once but twice and she was really feeling it now.

"Hold it!" she heard a familiar voice behind her which made her smile even with a bleeding lip.

"Wow. I'm completely at you're mercy." she said turning to see her little sister bow with arrow in hand.

Artemis's eyes widened at who the assassin was. "You." she said.

"I suppose you will take me in. Bring me to justice. You can now easily since you're green friend handled me so easily. Though I wonder if you're position is strong enough for them to find out all the secrets that you hide from them?" she questioned. This made Artemis pause before lowering her bow.

"Didn't think so." she said as she walked back and threw another smoke bomb. "So like the Cheshire cat. I will just disappear." and then she was gone.

Aqualad and the others caught up to Naruto who was talking with Roquette.

"I thought you were going to stop the Fog." he said.

"Boss did, which means he should be coming back with Robin and Superboy." said Naruto as he held up Cheshire's mask. "I stopped our assassin from getting Serling but she managed to escape. This was all I found. And no I didn't see her face." he said changing the subject.

"Cool! Souvenir!" said Kid Flash. It was then that Artemis appeared from the ally.

"Hey did you manage to get her?" asked the speedster.

"No. She's long gone." said Artemis.

"Well that's super. As you can see we got ours." said Kid Flash pointing at Black Spider and Bone tied up.

"It is fine. Doctor Roquette is safe and the Fog neutralized. The mission is a success thanks in no small part to you." said Aqualad. "Welcome to the Team."

Artemis smiled at that.

"Indeed. We have been needing a long range combatant for some time and you fit the bill very well." said Naruto who offered her his hand for her to shake.

"I always wanted a sister. Here on Earth of course I have twelve back on Mars but trust me it's not the same." said Miss Martian

"I...wouldn't know. But thanks" said Artemis. M'gann then elbow Kid Flash to get him to respond.

"Yeah welcome." he said as he and Artemis shook hands. Though it seemed to be an uneasy affair.

"Well if that's all then the Boss will see you guys later." said Naruto which had them all confused. Until Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Okay...what is the deal with him?" asked Artemis.

"Suffice it to say that our Green Lantern has a varied skill set it appears." said Aqualad as he put a hand to his to relay the information to the others.

"Yeah I know I just told Robin and Superboy. We are on our way back to the Cave. Batman will have someone take the Doctor home." said Naruto.

"How did you already know what happened here?" asked Aqualad.

"My clone's relayed the information to me. I will explain when you get back." said Naruto.

"Please do so. Cause between this and walking on water I am having difficulty keeping up." said Aqualad.

**(Gotham City)**

Artemis Zeta Tube back to Gotham. The delivery being inside a telephone booth. As soon as she stepped out however she heard someone was behind her and drew her bow and arrow.

"Step out into the light! Now!" she ordered.

The person in question was Red Arrow.

"Nice move. Almost made me think you are Green Arrow's niece." said Roy as Artemis hoisted her bow. "But we both know you're not."

Artemis looked away and said nothing.

"Still I'm sure GA and Bats have a good reason for lying so you're cover's safe. But I warn you now. Do not hurt my friends." he threatened.

"Same goes for you boy." said a voice from behind both of them. They looked to see Naruto appear before them shimmering into existence.

"Look I understand you wanting to protect your friends. Believe me I do. But how bout giving her the benefit of the doubt before threatening her?" he asked. "Because she's one of  **my** comrades now and  **you** really don't want to threatening one of my teammates with me around."

The two of them stared for a moment before Roy walked past him and away from them.

"Jerk." said Naruto.

"Thanks." said Artemis.

"Don't mention it. As far as I'm concerned whatever you're keeping from the others is your business. But Robin is going to figure it out. So you might want to at least think about telling them whatever you think you need to hide." Naruto advised.

Artemis took a moment to think on that.

"I will think on it alright." she said. "I need to go get some sleep. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah you will. Cause I happen to be the assistant trainer as well as a member of the Team. So get some sleep. We have a session tomorrow morning." said Naruto. Artemis nodded and walked home as Naruto used the Zeta Tube in the phone booth to return to the Cave.

**(Infinity Island)**

_"You're report?"_  said the voice of L-2.

"Masters." addressed Sensei. "Before Ojo's capture he transmitted the Star Labs data you require. But the WayneTech intel still alludes us."

_"Once again the young "heroes" intervene. So it is fortunate that we have an operative on the inside."_  said L-2. To which Sensei smiled at this.

**End Chapter**

_Apologies again for the delay in the chapter. I have had circumstances in RL that have had my attention. That and my editor, qtar1984, work on what will be the season three for this fanfiction. Suffice it to say it is a lot and hopefully you will get to see it sooner rather the later._

_See you all next chapter._


	13. Across a Distant Shore

**(Qward - Guardian Chambers)**

"So you mean to tell me that your people had found a way to contain these Tailed Beasts inside a living person? Beasts that I might add that are not only sentient but also provided great power to not just themselves but also their hosts?" asked Scar.

Both she and Orochimaru sat in her chambers as Orochimaru recited the tale of Naruto Uzumaki to her. Among the many feats that he accomplished such as sealing Kaguya, a god like being, at least on their terms, but ending the Uchiha line. What interested her now was the description of the Jinchuuriki and the process in which one could become such a being.

"Yes." said Orochimaru. "Through multiple varieties of fuinjutsu. Seals are used to cage a Tailed Beast and keep them contained inside the hosts. The original purpose of such a technique was for the villages of each nation to harness their powers and use the hosts as living weapons. Unfortunately, like many experiments, most attempts ended in failure."

"Why?" the rogue Guardian asked.

"The first reason is that the Tailed Beasts are difficult to control without special abilities. And the second: psychological issues with the Beasts' hosts. Only a person with a strong will and sense of self can hope to resist being influenced by the will of the Tailed Beast. The villagers in each of their respective nations usually ether viewed them as the same as the Tailed Beasts themselves or lacked faith in the Jinchuuriki's control, and therefore mistreated or outright abused them. As such some of the human hosts did not even care for their villages while, others earned the respect of their villages." Orochimaru explained.

"In other words prejudice and stupidity. A universal constant no matter what the species or race." said Scar. "Though I'm assuming Naruto would fall into the latter category, earning his people's respect."

"And understatement to be sure of." said Orochimaru.

"And you are saying that this is the reason why he would trump you in terms of power?" Scar asked.

"Indeed." said Orochimaru though hiding the other fact that Naruto also happened to be the last descendant of Asura Otsutsuki and with that blood connection came the Senjutsu of the Six Paths which allowed Naruto to enter Six Paths mode.

So far there were no reports about Naruto using that Mode since he took on the ring. However, if the Betrassian Blitz was any indication of his growth then the Sannin figured the boy was keeping it in reserve in case he needed it. And the reason he didn't tell Scar about this was simple.

Orochimaru didn't want to hurt his position.

His thoughts were interrupted when Scar rose from her chair.

"In that case I think we may have a solution so that you may finally be able to match your fellow Ajnian when the time comes for you to do battle." she said with a smile on her face.

Orochimaru soon found himself in between being worried and also intrigued. After all, one must do all for the sake of attaining more power.

**(Mount Justice)**

"Exactly what I am supposed to be doing out with this?" asked Wally pointing at the football in his hand as he, Naruto and Black Canary stood in the center of the white, digital mat they used for training.

After their training session had ended Naruto had told Wally to hang back. That was when Dinah threw him the football.

Instead of answering, Naruto projected several constructs and obstacles around the room. The constructs shifted into people.

"We are doing an exercise today that will be added on to your training Wally." said Dinah. "In this case learning what many football players, specifically running backs, are trained to do. Juking: A running technique used to move around an opponent rather than through them, with the right body movement and foot work."

"That sounds great and all, babe, but how does this help me in the field?" Wally asked.

Dinah didn't seem to like it too much that he kept calling her that but put it aside. As did Naruto since he had a way to get him back for it.

"As you can see I have a small battalion here around the room. We want you to try to get through them. Just do the same as you normally would in a situation? Then you'll know why." said Naruto.

Wally decided to do as he was told and started running towards them as he would. Unfortunately, while the young speedster was fast he was not very maneuverable. Meeting his first opposition, he tried moving straight left and got clobbered into the ground by the construct's strong clothesline.

Getting up and shaking it off Wally tried it again. He managed to get around the first construct though it proved to be a feint as he was lead to being tackled to the ground again, losing the ball this time.

The process repeated at least five times with Naruto and Dinah watching and Dinah wincing every time he got knocked down.

"You sure this is necessary?" she asked.

"The best way to understand your weaknesses to is to get hit a lot in my experience. Especially when you don't even acknowledge that you have one in the first place like he does." said Naruto.

"I can understand the logic but still." said Dinah as Wally went down again for the eighth time.

"I think that's enough." said Naruto. With a snap of his fingers the constructs disappeared. He then walked over to Wally who was lying on the ground with the football lying next to him. Naruto moved over and held out his hand to the groaning speedster who took it and from there helped him up to his feet.

"Man I don't understand. I ran my fastest and I couldn't get through them at all." said Wally.

"Faster you may be on foot. But I'm still faster in mind." said Naruto. "And it shows your lack of maneuverability, which is what juking will help with."

"Okay I'm not so good when it comes to football in the first place so I don't even know what juking is!" Wally grumbled.

"You have watched it though right, with your family?" Dinah asked. Wally nodded. "And you have seen a running back use twists and footwork to fake out and avoid linebackers and tacklers right?" she asked again to which he nodded. "What the running back does is juking."

"Oh." said Wally finally getting the message. "So I'm guessing that's what I need to learn then."

"Yes. And we are going to help you with it." said Naruto. "We are going to work on your juking. Mainly cause you're not as fast as your uncle so this Team needs you to be more maneuverable so that you can be a better asset. Dinah and I will be training you and helping you with this on your weekends until you get better with it. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah I guess. I don't want to be a burden to the Team." said Wally reluctantly.

"Then you won't. Now get going you got school in fifteen minutes." said Dinah. This got Wally back to his normal mood as he groaned at the prospect but ran out towards a Zeta Tube to head home.

"Well from what he said at least its progress. Hopefully he starts taking the training more seriously if only for his friends sake." said Naruto.

"We can hope." said Dinah. "Good work with those constructs."

"Thanks. I do aim to make sure my construct's are up to the task." said Naruto "By the way did you bring what I requested?" he asked.

Dinah soon pulled up a tablet from her jacket.

"At his behest." she said. Naruto looked over and saw the schematics and plans for the Javelin. He then created a USB cord and put it in the port and download the information into his ring's computer database.

"Thanks for being the go between. I know you don't like it." said Naruto.

"Its not a big deal. Besides I liked how you stood your ground when you and Bruce faced off." she said. Naruto smiled at that as he uploaded the data in the tablet and handed it back to her.

"That's all the info I have on Orochimaru. Hopefully he will put it in the League computer so everyone can see it." he said.

"I and the rest will make sure that it happens. If this guy is as big a threat as you seem to make him out to be then we will need to be ready." she said. She noticed on the pad that the information was extensive and even had the man's face. She couldn't help but be a bit intimidated by man's snake like eyes.

She then noticed a symbol next to his name. One that looked like some mockery of the Green Lantern symbol

"I'm assuming this symbol means he's joined a Lantern Corps. Sinestro's if I'm right." she said.

"Yes." said Naruto. "Have Hal and John mentioned him or the other Corps in the past?"

"From time to time yes. We know more about the Star Sapphires then the others though. Mainly because Carol, Hal's former girlfriend is among them. Though I think I will recommend they share more about the others in the future." said Dinah with certainty.

"As you should." said Naruto as he nodded in affirmation as he walked away to a Zeta Tube while changing into his uniform.

"Where are you going?" Dinah asked.

"Everyone is done with their training. Only makes sense that now I get started with my own." said Naruto. "Normally I do it in the morning before the Teams but I wanted to be sure we get it into Wally's head how important your juking method is to his survival."

"Okay then but why don't you just train here?" the heroine questioned.

"Let's just say if I used some of my better moves the mountain wouldn't be here anymore." said Naruto

"Alright." said Dinah though she seemed reluctant to believe that statement entirely since she knew that he would rather keep his abilities a secret for as long as he could.

"Though if you want some hand to hand practice, let me know. I don't have many sparring partners at my level." she added.

"What about Ollie?" Naruto asked.

"He's good but I clean his clock too often for his taste. His words not mine." she said with a proud smile on her face.

"That I believe." said Naruto. And he really did after he saw her handle both Wally and Superboy the way she had. "Anyway see you later."

"Take care." said Dinah as she saw him disappear.

_'Though I have to wonder? What does he do for training that is so dangerous that he can't do it here in Mount Justice?_ ' she thought to herself.

**(Scandinavia)**

Deep in the icy mountains of old Scandinavia is where Naruto chose to train. Mainly cause there would be less chance of anyone seeing him and there was no one around to be hurt.

For some reason Naruto found the snow filled lands as the perfect place to train in the various elemental jutsu that he acquired from the scrolls that Tsunade gave him. It was an easy to find a place where he could use the shadow clone jutsu to make hundreds of clones, each of them practicing the various elemental jutsu.

Case in point one of his clones was making his hand signs against him.

"Lightning Style: Lighting Spear Jutsu!" he called out. A spear of lightning chakra appeared in his hand and he fired it directly at him. Naruto then acted to counter.

"Wind Style: Air Barrier Jutsu!" he called out. A wall of condensed air formed around Naruto effectively neutralizing the lightning attack. As they continued two more clones used the Fire Style jutsu Majestic Destroyer Fire to which another used a massive Water Wall. Naruto also made note to himself and the clones that when using water jutsu that he must be able to use it in where there might be no water as the Second Hokage did. Or at least that was what he aimed for.

The clone in turn used the snow on the ground to create a wall that protected him. Others were using the Earth style.

One of the elements that piqued his interest was the Magnet Release since this would allow him to control metal. And it combined Wind and Earth. So mastering the Earth style was a top priority. After all if a situation happened and he couldn't use his ring he could just stop bullets with a wave of his hand or something.

Naruto turned to his clone and decided to finish his fight by concentrating once again and using the wind surrounding him and super heated it with his Boil release. He channeled it into his arm and struck his shadow clone dead center easily dispersing him. Naruto looked down to see his arm relatively unharmed.

_'Best to use that as a weapon of last resort. Another to the lethal list.'_ he thought to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted as fire balls once more were headed towards his direction. Naruto prepared to counter when he heard a voice in the air.

**"Come. Come to me."**  it said. This distracted the shinobi for a moment. Until he heard the mental shout of his partner.

**'NARUTO!'**  he looked to see the incoming fire. Quickly he used his ring to create a shield to surround himself before they hit just managing to avoid getting damaged but still feeling the impact of the attack.

The dust from the attack settled with Naruto standing in craters with his green shield.

**'What the hell!? Boy are you trying to get yourself killed!?'**  Kurama said.

_'Sorry Kurama. I thought I heard a voice coming from somewhere.'_  Naruto responded as all action from the clones ceased.

"Hey boss, are you okay?" asked the clone that fired at him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just hearing things I guess." said Naruto. He then looked around and saw the damage that his training had left. He looked at the time from his ring and saw that it was already well into the afternoon.

"Alright that's enough for today." said Naruto. The others nodded and disappeared in puffs of smoke. The information and refinement of the jutsu that they had all practiced ran through his head.

The Green Lantern had to rub his head as the information was processed.

_'It's a wonder that I don't get headaches from all this info.'_  Naruto thought to himself.  _'Kurama did you hear a voice or anything during that fight?'_

The tailed beast grumbled but decided to hold off lecturing his partner for now and did as he was asked.

**'I didn't hear a voice like you said since I was mostly paying attention to your imminent death. But now that you mention it there is some trace of something in the air, magic perhaps. Can't be sure though.'**  said Kurama.

Naruto nodded. He looked around again. Maybe he was hearing things. It was at this point that this time he did hear a voice. Only unlike the voice he heard this one was that of a woman.

"Are you alright?" he heard. He looked to the sky and saw who the voice belonged to and was surprised to say the least.

The woman in the sky was tall and fair-skinned. She had a lean but still muscled build, curvaceous but slender and with a sizable bust to her. She wore a strapless red buster held up by a gold brace that resembled two W's. A golden robe hung on the side of the blue briefs with stars. She wore red boots with a white line and to finish had silver bracelets, red star earrings and golden tiara with a red star on its forehead.

All he knew from the profile on the League data-banks. Though seeing the person in question as he often found out was a different story all together.

"You're Wonder Woman." Naruto said in astonishment as the lady landed in front of him.

"And you would be the new Green Lantern the others told me about." she said with a smile. She then held out her hand. "But I also go by the name Diana."

Naruto was a little startled at first when she said her real name. But then he remembered that Diana technically had no secret identity. At least not one he knew of. And since he and her were the only ones in the immediate area and for some reason seemed to trust her he took her hand and shook it.

"Naruto." he responded as they released their hands. "What brings you all the way into Scandinavia?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I just arrived in this part of the country when I heard loud explosions and what I thought was a battle. Though by the time I came I saw you standing alone in this field." she said gesturing to the craters around them.

"Ah yeah, that was me training. I was working on some techniques that I had recently acquired. I told Dinah that my techniques would be too destructive around the Cave, so I decided to go somewhere remote. The snow filled Scandinavia seemed the right place." Naruto explained.

Diana looked over where he trained at. He noticed that she seemed to be looking around trying to piece together what he was doing.

"What kinds of techniques are you practicing that would lead to this level of destruction?" she asked.

"Techniques from my home planet. I decided to try a majority of the lethal ones here since it's more remote than anywhere else I could find. At least in case I need to get back to the cave since I don't know the location for a Zeta Tube here." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head.

"That would be Stockholm. We have a tube there." said Diana. "These techniques wouldn't happen to be elemental in nature would they?"

"You saw the footage from the fight with Amazo." Naruto stated.

"Yes. And unlike Batman I could persuade you with my lasso to tell me more." she said gesturing to the fabled Lasso of Truth. "But I won't." she added.

"Why not?" Naruto asked genuinely surprised at that since just about everyone was curious about his capabilities.

"Because I am not Batman. When you feel you can trust someone with whatever secrets that you have should be your choice." she said. "Though I should tell you secrets belong in shadows. And they are eventually brought into light."

'Something to think about.' said Kurama getting a little tired of the hiding as well.

"I'll keep it in mind." said Naruto. "Anyway you said you had a mission here?"

"Yes. About a month ago there was an ice glacier that had melted here. When it collapsed it revealed an old ship. Viking in origin. With the standard of King Rick. The only ship that would have carried that banner and gone that far north was one that belonged to Prince John. Also known as the Viking Prince." she explained.

"Guessing there's a story to it." said Naruto.

"Quite the tale. Known even to the Amazons. If you like you could join me and I can tell you it and the why it's relevant to the mission." Wonder Woman inquired. "Unless you would prefer to continue training."

"No I was just about done here anyway." said Naruto immediately going into mission mode again.

"Then follow me." said Wonder Woman. From there they both shot up into the sky.

"So what is the story of Prince John exactly?" he asked.

"Back in the early tenth century Prince John had distinguished himself as the greatest warriors of his age. His skill and valor earned him his name and fame throughout the known world. His adventures were epic as were all the tales that were made of them wither it was fact or fiction. However, one story turned out to be true." she began. "One day on a frozen battlefield, the last battle of a war whose purpose is lost to time John was wounded and was taken, thinking dead, by a Valkyrie, a messenger of the Norse Gods whose duty was take fallen heroes and escort them to their reward in Valhalla. She soon found that he was very much alive and then something impossible happened."

"They fell in love." Naruto answered guessing where this was going.

"Indeed. And they swore their hearts to each other. But Odin, the king of the Norse Gods, found out about their affair and banished him from Valhalla. John pleaded and begged Odin to at least be given the chance to return to his beloved. Odin agreed saying that per the law that if John died an honorable death that he could return and that he and his love would be together for all eternity." Diana continued as they approached their destination.

"But he did something that could prevent that from happening." said Naruto.

"Yes. Before he banished John Odin had gifted him with invulnerability to metal, wood, fire and water. John found out and soon despaired for he would never find an honorable death for no weapon on Earth at that time could kill him. Not that he didn't keep trying as he went from one battle and adventure after another. And eventually he grew weary of his loneliness and sailed north never to be seen again." Diana finished.

"Until now you mean." said Naruto looking to see the ship in question. As she had told him the ship was trapped in a glacier. More than likely from the centuries it had spent at sea and finally freezing.

He also looked at the area around and saw several unconscious bodies on the ground in the same area as the ship itself.

"I take it someone wanted to get their hands on the ship." said Naruto as they landed. He looked to see the troops were wearing black armor with advanced rifles. He also saw that the gear they wore was mainly for under water and land based combat. "Whose do these guys answer to?'"

"Black Manta." Diana answered. "An enemy of Aquaman. He has his own private of army of troops that he has funded and stocked for years."

"And I'm assuming that he wants this ship mainly because he believes that the corpse of the Viking Prince is on board. And he wants to take it and find a way to re-engineer his invulnerability." said Naruto

"That was my thought as well." said Wonder Woman looking at the ship in ice. "After I dealt with Manta's soldiers I was going to call the League and see about getting this ice removed. Which is why you are a fortunate find in this area."

Naruto got what she was saying and pointed his ring at the glacier. Using a relatively low but wide beam he fired at it and soon enough the glacier melted way. After that he had the beam constrict around the ship as he helped it stay afloat on the water.

"The glacier managed to preserve the ship. Any wear and tear on it would be minor at this point." said Naruto.

"Can you see where the body of the Prince is on board?" Wonder Woman asked.

Naruto then had his ring scan the ship. The results of it surprised him though, enough that he did a second scan. The results were the same.

"Are you sure that this is his ship?" he questioned.

"Yes. It has the banner of King Rick his father." she assured.

"Well then we have a problem. My ring is saying that there are no life forms, dead or alive, inside the ship." said Naruto.

"Check it again." she said.

"I did, twice. There is no one on board." said Naruto.  _'Kurama do you sense anything?'_

**'Not from the ship. But I do sense something nearby.'** said the Tailed Beast.

Before she could answer Naruto once again heard the voice he had heard during his training.

**"Come! Come to me!"**  it said loudly, enough for the young shinobi to wince from the volume. And he wasn't alone in hearing that.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. Naruto nodded in response, hearing the voice was not enough though as it seemed to be all over the place.

"The voice clearly has magic attached to it. And it seems centered on us." Diana said.

Naruto thought for a moment. Magic and Chakra were two different things but the one thing that they and all things have in common is energy. So he got an idea.

**'Already in position.'** Kurama said reading his mind. Naruto went into Sage Mode. He could now see the energy in the air. What he saw was a trail with the color of ice blue.

"I've got a bead on whoever or whatever is calling out to us, I'm going find it." he said. Before Diana could stop him he flew off towards the location catching Wonder Woman by surprise by the enhanced speed that Sage Mode afforded him.

Naruto had no trouble following the trail to its destination. Which turned out be a deserted part of the country. No trees in the immediate vicinity and the ground covered in snow for at least a few miles. All that was there was a cave.

It was here that the source met its end. Naruto immediately returned to normal form and glow around him faded with his eyes returning to their normal state.

_'Probably not wise to have left Diana the way I did.'_  Naruto thought to himself as he went over his reckless nature waiting for his partner's response. But it was not to be.

**'There is someone here.'**  said the Tailed Beast.

_'You sense something?'_ Naruto asked.

**'Yeah, the emotion I'm feeling is definitely negative. Not evil though. It feels sad...and angry. Watch your step kid. Someone's looking for a fight.'**  Kurama surmised.

The instant he finished Naruto could see that something was coming out of the cave, or rather someone.

That someone was at least six feet and well muscled wearing what looked to be full Viking armor. Chain-mail shirt with thirty lamellar plates for extra protection and a helmet that covered his face. Weapons included a round shield in his right hand and a one-hand double-edged sword. Also on his back Naruto saw that he carried a bastard sword, something Naruto noted wasn't a traditional Viking weapon.

The warrior in question, along with his armor and weapons, appeared to be made of ice, or at least imbued with the element.

**"Welcome. To your doom."**  said the being in front of him in an old dialect of Norse. Naruto could tell that the reason his voice seemed different was because of the helmet he wore, seeming to enhance his voice. He also silently thanked the ring for translating though he didn't know why.

Naruto immediately created a ninja-to construct and got into a stance with the sword in a reverse grip. He waited wanting for his opponent to make the first move, which he did as he charged the young shinobi with a high strike of his sword. Naruto parried and countered to which the ice Viking used his shield to deflect. The two then struck at each other their swords sending sparks and they clashed.

Naruto found the opening he needed and feigned a left cross slice. When his opponent moved for his shield to block he spun around and struck at his side slicing at the armor and drawing blood from the wound.

The Viking before him knelt down dropping his weapons as he held his side. Naruto wondered at that since he had not done that much damage with the strike since it was meant to disable not kill.

_'In fact he seemed more surprised than anything else.'_  Naruto thought to himself. He saw the being look at the blood in his hand that came from the wound. His opponent then laughed.

**"At last...after all these years. A worthy opponent."** the being in front of him said.

Naruto became angry at this statement. He had fought and killed but there was always purpose in it whether being a mission or when a planet was at stake or even when he had to kill Sasuke because of his insanity. He did not fight for sport.

"I'm not playing this game of yours." he said waving his sword construct away. This made the Viking mad.

**"You will fight!"**  he yelled discarding his shield in anger grabbing it in both hands as he swung wildly in anger and Naruto in turn dodged the strikes.

"No! I will not fight in a meaningless battle for sport! There is no honor in such a thing!" the Lantern stated.

**"Honor?"**  the Viking questioned.  **"What does thou know of honor? For centuries I have waited and watched as time passed. Now my goal is now in sight. You will fight!** "

He made an overhand strike with both hands. Naruto managed to catch it with both hands though he clinched in surprise at the strength of him.

**'He's desperate. He really wants you to fight him and I don't think it's for sport.'**  Kurama stated getting a read on the being's emotions.  **'It's almost as if his life depends on it.'**

Naruto took the information that his partner said and got an idea as to how he could figure out what is going on. He forced the sword and the wielder away from him.

"If you are going to kill me do it. I'm not going to fight." he said. He then sat down cross legged and waited.

The Viking halted his assault and stared at his opponent in shock.

**"Nay, I cannot strike thee defenseless. This battle must end by the warrior's code. I beg thee. Rise. Unsheathe your sword from whence it came and continue this fight."**  he implored.

"Why?" said a voice from the sky. They both looked up to see Wonder Woman above. She landed and asked the question again.

"Why should he fight you for your amusement?" she questioned again clearly understanding the language that the Viking spoke in.

**"Not amusement. For freedom."** he said with a sad tone as he took off his helmet to reveal himself a man. He appeared to be in his late forties or late fifties with long blond hair that had grown from a long time of being not kept. He wrinkled though still distinguished features showed exhaustion from the years. None more apparent than in his blue eyes. When he spoke again his voice was normal and tired.

"A long time I have spent waiting for the one to find this cave. To hear my call. For I am a man underneath this armor. A mighty warrior like thee. One who until now believed that he would never be reunited with his beloved." he said. Naruto and Wonder Woman could not help but feel sympathy for the man.

The Viking then turned back into his cave. Moments later he came out with a large stone. On the stone was carvings written in the language of Old Norse.

"I have made this recording of my life. So that I would never forget who I am. The warrior I was. And the woman I love above all others." he said giving the tablet to them.

Both Naruto and Wonder Woman had begun to suspect who this mysterious warrior was but as they examined the tablet it confirmed what they both believe who this man was.

"You're Prince John." said Diana.

"Yes. Or I used to be him. Since thee know my name thou must know at least part of my story." said John

"The tragedy of it yes." said Diana while Naruto fell silent. "How have you lived for all these years?"

"I had once saved a mystic and her village at one time early after my exile from Valhalla. She had a smith craft me the fine armor that you see before you. She enchanted it so that I may persevere as the ice of the Norse Lands." John explained.

"I see." said Diana. John had then turned back to the silent Naruto.

"You know what must be done. The only way to enter Valhalla is fall in combat against another warrior." said John who knelt before Naruto. "My fate is at your mercy."

**'Kid I already know what your decision is going to be and I support it wholeheartedly. But although you are sanctioned to kill in matters of war by the council of the Guardians I don't think they would sanction a death like this using the ring, which means you will have to use a jutsu that does not involve wood, metal, fire or water, as he is invulnerable to those.'**  Kurama explained to his now silent partner.

Naruto knew he was right. And thanks to his training he had now a wide variety of jutsu of wind and lightning to choose from to give the Viking Prince his freedom and the ability to return to his beloved. However, for some reason his mind kept going to two jutsu in particular.

The first one was his signature. One that he had always relied on in every battle he ever fought. The Rasengan had proven its worth in ways that his father could never have imagined.

Then the other popped up in his head. The one that was the signature of a now hated enemy. One he hadn't really needed training to use. He saw the hand signs so many times that they were forever engraved in his mind. He had also been struck with it enough times to understand the pain. He had also noted that in some ways it was inferior to the Rasengan.

And it had taken someone he loved away from him.

Naruto's eyes turned towards John as he made his decision. Before announcing it Diana spoke first.

"It appears we might have company." she said point to the eastern direction. They looked to see more troops in black in larger numbers. Their leader was different however. He wore the same armor as his mean but was wearing a manta shaped helmet with two large daunting red eyes with small tubes that connected to the back of his head to his shoulders.

"It appears Black Manta had decided to lead this attack personally." she turned to Naruto and John. "I will handle them. You two can do what needs to be done." she flew off after that towards the enemy.

John turned again to Naruto. Who said nothing as he stood up once again and conjured a green blade. Only instead of a ninja-to as he had before he made his construct a katana. He shifted into a standard stance with two hands griping the sword.

"Prepare yourself." he said.

John did all he could to hide the joy he felt as got into his own stance.

"At last, the gates of Valhalla, and to my beloved Aria, open to me at last." he said as he hefted his sword, picked up his shield from the ground, and swung. At the same time as Naruto launched himself at John and struck with his own sword.

The broke apart, John using the bottom of his hilt to strike Naruto's face. It connected catching him off guard. He recovered and sliced at the Prince's head. He deflected the attack but did not see the front kick to his chest that Naruto delivered.

Naruto moved to strike at him with a two handed strike which was blocked by John's shield. The shield was cracked by the strike but it was still usable. The two combatants clashed with their blades echoing throughout the valley as they struck, blocked and dodged their attacks.

Naruto blocked another sword strike only to be hit with a shield bash to his face that sent him flying a full twenty meters from where he was on the ground eating snow.

_'That felt awful familiar actually.'_ he thought as he remembered getting hit that hard before by a certain pink haired girl that he had thought about earlier.

…Especially after he returned from his two years of training.

**'I felt it too. The guys actually has a chakra network and is somehow using in unconsciously. Though he can't control it all that well it is augmenting his strength and stamina. Reflexes as well I think. It must have been from the curse. What Odin did to him must be similar to what Hidan got from his god.'** Kurama confirmed.

_'So Hidan wasn't all bullshit.'_ said Naruto

**'Yeah looks like. Though I'm starting to not like these so called gods interfering or messing with people all that much.'** Kurama stated to which Naruto fully agreed with.

"Rise warrior! Rise!" Prince John screamed. "Honorably I must be defeated! I cannot let up!"

Naruto clinched his fist in the snow as he stood up.

"Don't worry, this is still just the warm up." he said. He threw a brace of shuriken at his opponent. The Viking Prince deflected the projectiles but barely managed to parry Naruto's strikes with his reformed katana construct. Allowing himself to use his chakra to augment his strength, Naruto was better able to match his opponent's physical strength. Something Prince John had noticed.

Naruto then got some distance and made a jumping spinning round house kick. Though John managed to block it with his shield the force of the kick sent him flying at least twenty feet and had him landing on his back. He looked up to see his opponent in the air preparing the death blow when suddenly he stopped in mid-air and had made a construct to grab a grenade and throw into the air exploding.

The two looked to see a few of Black Manta's forces had managed to make it through the battle with the Amazon.

"Damn it! We don't need you interfering right now!" said Naruto making hand signs. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he shouted sending his hands forward and a gust of wind blow the half dozen away and back towards the explosions and laser fire that was emitting not far from them.

"I would have killed them for their interference." John growled as the death blow would have sent him on his way.

"As would I in your position but the laws made by people of this time wouldn't allow it." said Naruto. He turned with his Katana construct made whole again. "But fortunately our fight doesn't need to follow those rules."

John smirked and roared as the duel recommenced.

The two warriors fought for what seemed like hours when it was only minutes. Blocking, striking, dodging, and parrying. The battle that Wonder Woman was having with Manta and his forces could be heard in the background and felt in the area as grenades and fire boomed the land.

But all Naruto and John could pay attention to was the fight they were having. The one that John hoped with all his heart would be his last.

Naruto had to give credit where it was due. Prince John was the pinnacle of his Viking kind. He used their tactics, brutish though they were, to great effect. But Naruto had his ring and the variety of options. Truth be told, the fight could have ended a while ago.

But Prince John was a warrior and as soon as Naruto made the decision to fight him he would hold back his full power and arsenal and restrict himself to only one jutsu that would send Prince John to his rightful place that he had longed for.

That time had now come.

Naruto changed the shape of his bladed to a piercing end of a double-edged sword and thrust it at his opponent. John moved his damaged shield to block but that had proven to be a mistake as the blade thrust hit its cracked shell and the shield shattered like glass and staggering his opponent to the ground from which John quickly recovered thanks in part to the numbness of his arm from Naruto's kick.

Though John's arm was damaged and numb from both strikes he unsheathed the bastard sword from his back, gripping it in both hands and swung it at the Lantern. Naruto also gripping his weapon in both hands blocked the attack. The two stood with their swords locked together with metal and construct sizzling with Naruto seeing the red from the part of the blade that was locked with his. As they got close John used a head butt to try and knock him off. It succeeded but Naruto was able to twist around and slashed at his legs with John able to avoid some of the power of the blow but still ended up with a gash on his left leg.

The time had come to end this and they both knew it. They could see it in their eyes. From there the two warriors charged each other with their swords coming at each other at the same time. As they struck Naruto's construct shattered from the force of John's attack. Disappointment ran through the Viking Prince as he seemed to think his chance at Valhalla was gone.

As he turned around to face Naruto however, he soon found himself struck with a great pain in his abdomen.

"Ahhh!" he grunted. He looked down to see a hand wreathed in lightning. He looked up to see that the owner of the hand was the young man that he had been fighting.

It dawned on the prince on what had happened. Naruto has his sword break on purpose so that he could use this attack, whatever it was, to finish the fight.

For the Chidori was the jutsu Naruto used. A jutsu he never thought to use but he figured that since it took the one he had loved at one time it could reunite two others.

John coughed blood as Naruto pulled his hand out of his abdomen. John coughed blood as he held the wound in his chest but smiled all the same.

"After all these years, my time has arrived." said John kneeling down on the snow. A small blue glow seemed to come out of him and soon left his body.

"Odin! Your spell is broken!" he cried out into the sky above. It was his last yell of defiance before he finally fell.

Naruto moved quickly and held up to keep him from falling too hard and gently laid him on the snow.

"Prince John...I'm-"

"Don't worry my friend. This is the end that I have longed for." said dying Viking. "I have one final request."

"Name it." said Naruto.

"Please...hand me my sword." he said gasping as life continued to leave him.

Naruto reached over to the sword and placed it on his chest where John hand grabbed it with both hands.

"Thank you." he said. His eyes closed then and the last breath of life left him.

To Naruto he looked like he was sleeping. He saw the smile on his face as he was at peace as he expected the Prince to be.

What he did not expect was for a light in the sky suddenly appear. He looked up and saw what was causing it with a hand shielding his eyes. The light dissipated but remained as Naruto could now see it was not a what, but a who.

It was a red haired woman who wore a simple white dress and bore a winged helmet upon her head. From his database of Earth he knew that this was a Valkyrie from the ancient tales of Viking folklore.

She looked at him, or rather next to him. Naruto looked to his right and saw Prince John standing there, his body now appearing as a spirit as he could see right through him. He looked younger than he had when they fought. He looked as they saw each other. Both of them had tears in their eyes. The soon ran to each other and embraced with a passionate kiss.

Naruto could not help but smile under his mask at seeing the scene before him. He could also feel a tear in his eye as he saw the scene.

**'Always pegged you as a romantic.'**  Kurama quipped, giving a toothy grin.

_'Shut up furball.'_ said Naruto though deep down he knew his partner was right.

The Valkyrie, who Naruto knew was this Aria that John spoke of, turned while they were still holding on to each other.

"Thank you young warrior." she said. Naruto bowed in response.

"It was my pleasure. Love should never be denied." he said.

"No it should not." said the spirit of Prince John holding on to his beloved's shoulders. "Though you should be warned, while I believe most of the gods will not care for what has transpired here today Odin will not be pleased to find that one of his schemes has been foiled. I would be cautious of his wrath."

"That's okay I'm used to pissing off godlike beings." the young ninja plainly stated.

This got a smile out of both of them. Then a light shone behind them. Naruto could barely make out what appeared to be gates.

"It is time my love. We have centuries of time to make up for." said Prince John.

"That we do." said Aria. She turned to Naruto again. "May you find fortune in all your battles young warrior."

Naruto said nothing but he did bow in response. The two lovers turned and walked hand in hand to the gates. When they reach them the gates had opened they had walked through. After they did the light disappeared leaving Naruto alone.

He could hear that Wonder Woman's battle was coming to a close and moved to join her. He looked to see John's body, as it was when he made the final blow, lay before him. He had a contented smile on his face. Naruto flew toward them.

Not that he needed to. He saw all but a few of the forces that Manta had brought with him had been knocked unconscious. Only Black Manta and a few of his forces remained.

Manta looked to see that the Green Lantern in question had returned.

"I assume than that Prince John is now deceased in reality then?" the villain asked.

"He is. And before you start thinking of going back to your mission to grab his corpse the curse that was used to give him his invulnerability was lifted as he died. It's just another human body now." said Naruto.

"Well that is unfortunate." Manta grumbled. He crossed his hand behind his back. "I'm assuming you both will want to take me in?"

"More specifically to Aquaman, your crimes against his rule and of Atlantis stretch far Black Manta." said Diana.

"Very true, but consider that today I have not committed a crime against Atlantis today. Nor have I against the world above. After all you are the ones who set free the Prince's ship. Yes I had intended to use him to find the secret of his invulnerability but truly can you say that you can prove this in court?" Manta explained. "As an ambassador of your people Wonder Woman I think you can see where this is going."

Wonder Woman clinched her teeth at his explanation.

"You're seriously not actually considering letting him go?" Naruto asked.

"She is indeed young man. For the rules of law are in my favor this day." said Manta. And even though he couldn't see it Naruto knew he was smiling. He raised his ring hand to shut the bastard up but Diana stopped him from doing so.

"Let them go." said Diana clearly not happy about the situation. "Know this though Manta. Next time you will face justice."

"So you say. Keep the unconscious if you like. And do tell Aquaman I said hello." he said as he turned and left.

"Next time bucket head." said Naruto. This made the villain stop and turn to look at the boy.

"Your quality will be known among your enemies on this day boy. As well as your impudence." he warned before leaving.

They then both turned back to Prince John's body.

"I'm sorry. But Black Manta is right. We have no grounds to put him in prison even though we had the upper hand." said Diana.

"Since we have no evidence. I get it. Not your fault." said Naruto.

"Personally though I wish we could go back to simpler rules of law. That way he can get what the bastard deserves." said Diana. They turned back to Prince John's corpse.

"He should be burned. It is Viking tradition." she said as she picked up his body. Naruto flew off and gathered the fire wood. From there they put his body on the pile and Naruto ignited it with his ring. He held the tablet that he had recorded his life on in under his arm as they watch the fire burn the body.

As it turned to ash Diana looked to see Naruto using a ring to carve something on the tablet. She was about to admonish him for it until she saw what he had written. It was image of Prince John with what she knew was his beloved Valkyrie, under them said the word  _'Free'_.

"I figure I could keep this safe. So that others might read it. Translated versions of course." said Naruto. Diana nodded her approval.

"Well come on. I think this day has been long enough." she said. Naruto agreed noticing that the sun had set. Which meant it was late at night.

"Yeah." said Naruto. They flew into the air heading to Stockholm to take the Zeta-Tube back to their respective bases. But, as they approached a tunnel where the Tube was Naruto had a thought cross his mind on another matter.

"Diana how well do you know Superman?" he asked.

"I have known Kal for a long time." said Diana. When she noticed his confused look she added. "His full kryptonian name is Kal-El. I call him Kal in private since that is as much his name as the one he uses on Earth. Which you already know."

Naruto nodded. "So you know than that he has been...distant from Superboy."

"Yes. And though I can understand why at first, the violation of someone using a part of him to create something intentionally to kill him, so far the boy has done nothing to provoke this suspicion." Diana explained. "So I do not understand why he has remained distant."

"Does he strike you as someone who would do such a thing normally?" Naruto asked.

"No and that is what makes it strange. As I'm sure you know from your database on Earth I am an Amazon. And we are isolated from the outside world of men because of our...tragic history with Hercules. Too make a long story short Kal was one of the first to show me that not all men are like the ones who harmed my people. And throughout my time with the League I have reaffirmed what I knew in my heart. That both genders are capable of great good and great evil." Diana explained.

**'She definitely is good at speeches.'**  Kurama said for the first time since Prince John's death.

_'No kidding.'_  Naruto responded.

"I understand from Dinah that you may have an idea as to why he is acting this way." Diana added getting Naruto back on track in the real world.

"I do. But in order to confirm it I may need your help. And Dinah's" said Naruto.

"You want to have a confrontation with him." said Diana to which the Lantern nodded. "Very well, name the time and the place."

"Just like that?" said Naruto surprised at how quickly she was agreeing to help.

"Superboy does not deserve to be shunned by the one person that can help him the most. And the man I know, the man I respect the most, knows that. So if you believe that he knows something that is keeping him from doing what he, you and I know to be right I wish to know what that is." she said with conviction.

"I think you and I are going to get along just fine." said Naruto smiling under his mask.

It was at that moment that his earpiece went off.

_"Green Lantern and Wonder Woman this is Red Tornado. The Team has just returned from another mission. I suggest you hurry back to the cave."_

"What's happened Red?" asked Naruto.

_"We have lost someone this night."_  said the android over the comm. Hearing that, both heroes immediately rushed into the tunnel and used the Tube to get them to the cave.

Naruto only hoped it wasn't a member of the Team that had been lost.

**(Mount Justice)**

It wasn't long after Naruto returned that Red Tornado had informed him of what happened.

The Team had been looking for a mission to do right around the time Naruto was in his duel with Prince John. Red Tornado had informed them that Kent Nelson, known to the world as the Doctor Fate, had gone missing. From what Naruto gathered Kent was just another in a long line of people that the Helmet of Fate, the physical construct that held the Lord of Order Nabu inside it, to represent this entity in physical form.

Not long after they were able to enter the Tower of Fate using a key given to them by Red Tornado. Naruto immediately took note of another weakness of Wally's was his outright denial of magic existing and always finding ways to explain it away with science. Something that everyone who was in this line of work, including Robin and he dare thought Batman, knew was wrong.

That denial nearly got them killed as he pretended to believe in it trying to impress M'gann. Fortunately, he redeemed himself a bit by finding Nelson and rescuing him for a moment. As it turned out Klarion a Lord of Chaos, natural enemy to Nabu, was after the Helmet that he had left in the Tower after Nelson retired to be with his wife Inza. By the time they had found the helmet however, tragedy had struck.

Kent Nelson was blasted by Klarion. That attack combined with his effort to shield Wally and the Helmet of Fate had taken its toll and had killed him. Wally than managed to put on the helmet and became Doctor Fate and defeat Klarion though not destroy him. Though he was not a being who belonged to magic Nabu had managed to use his temporary host to defeat Klarion by going after his cat Teekl. Since Nabu and Klarion were from another plane they each needed a physical anchor. With Nabu the helmet and Klarion was the cat.

After that it was a simple matter of taking out Klarion's accomplice Abra Kadabra. Against he, who used tech to simulate magic, all Fate had to do was remove his equipment and clothes which left him vulnerable to Superboy to easily knock out.

Between this and his battle with Prince John Naruto was about all magicked out for the day as he walked the hall in his civvies with the tablet that was the chronicle of the Viking Prince under his arm.

"Nice slab of stone you got there." said the voice of Artemis. "Guessing it's going to join the helmet as a souvenir?"

"For now until we can find better housing for both of them." said Naruto.

"Well Wally is in there still being in denial about it. Saying that Fate did an interface with him and all that." she said.

"And you believed him?" the shinobi asked being skeptical that she did.

"Nope. But I let him get away with it." Artemis confirmed with a smirk. Naruto returned it with a nod.

As he was about to turn he saw M'gann walking down the hall. He nodded to her and she returned it.

"Hey M'gann." said Wally in what he interpreted was his attempt to be smooth coming up behind her.

"Hold it Wally. We need to talk." said Naruto putting a hand on his chest to stop him. For he did need to talk with him and it just saved M'gann from being pestered by the speedster.

"Heard you guys had quite the adventure while I was absent." he said as they re-entered the room which held the souvenirs of their battles. As he placed the tablet on the shelf he looked to see the Helmet.

"Yeah. The AI Nabu just interfaced with me and-" Wally began his story but Naruto cut him off.

"Spare me the techno babble that you are going to unleash. We both know, that while you may not believe in magic per se, you cannot deny that it exists. For it doesn't matter what you believe some things just do." said Naruto turning to him.

Wally frowned at that.

"Fine. Alright I admit it. Magic does exist. Hell, seeing Kent Nelson, a guy who is dead now, in the realm I was in when I put the Helmet on pretty much confirms that." he said. "So what does this mean?"

"It means you accept there are thing that you can't explain. And that hopefully you will be ready for the unknown. And not let what you believe or not believe influence what you do on the field." said Naruto putting the tablet on the shelf. "And do accept and expect the unexpected."

"So...any chance we can get started on more training than? So I can be better prepared? I don't want to be a burden to the Team." said Wally.

"Glad you asked." said Naruto with a smile. "But learning juking is only the beginning." Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" asked Wally.

'Naruto what are you thinking?' asked Kurama now getting into it.

"I'm saying that given what I have just experienced today it's time to expand the Teams training." said Naruto to both the speedster and his partner. "You will find out tomorrow." said Naruto as he walked out of the room

Wally groaned.

"I get the feeling I'm going to regret asking for more training"

**(Mount Justice – Next day)**

Naruto stood in the center of the mission room and took a breath. It was just about time for the Team's morning training that was held on Saturday since that meant everyone could come in. And it was time to step up the training.

**'You sure about this kid?'** asked Kurama

_'If I am going to prepare them they need to know their full arsenal of abilities. And after fighting John I need to know who has a potential chakra network and who doesn't.'_  Naruto responded as he made the hand signs and slammed his hands into the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he called out. From there puffs of smoke appeared and out came Fukasaku and Shima.

"Naruto boy!" said the sage. "Good to see you but where are we?" he asked looking at their surroundings.

"I'm sorry for the abrupt summons guys but I wanted to get you here for a change. First and foremost, any information on Orochimaru that either of us have I will summon you here to confer with the Gokage." said Naruto quickly.

"Do you have any to share now?" asked Shima.

"Aside from what I've told you already, no. He seems content to stay low for now. But I'm sure he will act out sooner or later." said Naruto.

"So then what is the second reason Naruto boy?" Fukasaku asked. Than the Zeta-Tube activated and both Dinah and Red Tornado appeared from it. She saw Naruto in Green Lantern uniform. What bewildered her was seeing a pair of larger than normal toads.

"Naruto may I ask who your friends are?" she asked. Naruto turned to see her.

"In a moment Dinah, I just wanted to wait until everyone is in the room first." said Naruto. And just as he said it the rest of the Team showed up.

"Either I'm seeing things or I'm seeing a pair of toads walking up right." said Dick.

"Hey show some manners you young whipper snapper!" yelled Shima. Robin immediately had his hand up in a placating manner.

"Uh sorry ma'am." he said.

"Don't mind her she's just old. Doesn't like waking up in the morning all that much." said Fukasaku.

"In any case I think introductions are in order." said Naruto calming the situation down. "Ladies and gents the two toads you see here are Fukasaku and Shima. On my world they are known as the two great sage toads."

"Your planet has talking, self-aware toads?" asked M'gann. "I've never heard of a planet that had those."

"As if the Tower wasn't weird enough." said Artemis.

"Then there is much to learn then. One lesson we can get now is why are they here?" asked Aqualad.

"As many of you know from your mission at the Tower of Fate you will be facing things that may fall outside your comfort zone. Things you are not prepared for wither its magical or from outer space. Part of my job as your teammate, being more experienced than you, is to assist Dinah in preparing you for those. But I had an encounter with someone who like me had a chakra network, a kind of secondary cardiovascular system that is the source of my abilities, here, on Earth." Naruto explained.

"So if someone here on Earth has this system then there could be others." said Dinah.

"Exactly. But like for my people his was triggered by something. I won't bore you all with the details but I will say this. I don't know which species has it or not but I can find out and trigger it the same way. Now at the moment I want to limit it to the people in this room. If I find that you do have a chakra network I can activate it but only if you want me to." Naruto said.

The others looked to each other in disbelief. Robin decided to speak.

"You're saying that we could use techniques that you use in battle. Just not augmented by a power ring." he stated.

"Yes. Though the jutsu that you would employ, if you wish to learn, will still be powerful." said Naruto. "As I said this is optional to you all including you Dinah. Mainly to give you guys the best possible tools that you will have when you face the bigger and badder enemies. The training you will receive will only be once a day so that you're training in other areas that Dinah and I have will not be interrupted or sabotaged." he then turned to heroine. "Is that alright with you?"

"I never was one to give up on learning new techniques. I'm in." she said with a smile.

"I think that goes for all of us." said Superboy. All nodded in agreement though Robin was more reluctant.

"Batman would kill me for this...but what he doesn't know won't hurt him." he said.

"He'll know in time." said Naruto "Let me be clear on something though. I'm only laying this out in case there are those here that  **might**  have a chakra network. That is not to say that everyone here will. And I don't plan to be doing this often with anyone else that may or may not join the Team in the future. And I must insist that you don't tell anyone, not even your closest friends about what I will tell and show you."

"I can understand that but may I ask why?" Dinah commented.

"Because Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of Ninshu, and my ancestor, gave chakra to my world and thought everything would be alright. That line of thinking lead to four world wars on my planet before things finally stabilized. Those wars became more intense with the introduction of chakra. Something that is already seen here on Earth with all the the super powered individuals here." Naruto explained.

"Makes sense." said Dinah realizing how much destruction the battles that the League has had with their powers against others.

"If you are so reluctant for us to learn this because of the possible outcome if this gets out why are you telling us about this now?" asked Artemis.

Naruto then turned to Red Tornado.

"Have the computer files been updated?" he asked.

"They have." said the android. Naruto then made a gesture for the holographic panel to appear. After a few button presses he pulled up the file on Orochimaru with the symbol of the Sinestro Corps on the end of his name.

"Okay who is mister creepy here?" asked Wally.

"His name is Orochimaru. He is of Ajnin just like me. Unlike me he happens to be a wanted fugitive on my planet. Not only is he one of the most powerful and deadliest shinobi on my home world he also happens to be a scientist who likes to experiment on all forms of life in order to gain more power. Whether jutsu or whatever else. Especially, since he's now joined the Sinestro Corps. My Corps nemesis." said Naruto.

"Which means that sooner or later he might come to Earth, and we'll have to face him." said Conner.

"Hopefully not for some time but yes, he might. And once he finds out what I know now that there are other species out there who might have a chakra network he will exploit it in one way or another. So I would like to be ahead of the curve." said Naruto. "Make no mistake though; if it comes down to it I would prefer to face him myself. This man is dangerous even to League members."

This made everyone silent with some, Wally and even Robin, swallow in nervousness.

"That's why I am seeking those who might have a chakra network in case of such a time despite the fact that more than likely none of you will have the ability to have a chakra network. But even I can see that necessity of even trying to find out. And even if you don't you can still learn something from me and my allies here about a martial art or technique." Naruto explained. The Team nodded in confirmation.

"Now these two toads here have more experience than just about anyone else on my home world. When and if, keyword  **if** , you do develop a chakra network they will help me teach those that do on what kind of jutsu you are suited for." said Naruto breaking the tension and getting everyone back on track for training.

"Well then Naruto boy I say there is no time like the present." said Fukasaku with a smile.

"Speak for yourself you old goat. I liked retirement." Shima grumbled.

"On that note let's begin." said Naruto.

**(Qward - Central Battery)**

Orochimaru, Sinestro and Scar stood before the central battery. Sinestro was more than a little worried about what was about to transpire in the next few minutes.

"Are you certain this can be done?" he asked.

"Yes. Though if  **he**  is willing that would be more than helpful." said Orochimaru has he mentally prepared himself for the jutsu.

"In that case I will summon the entity." said Scar as she flew towards the center of the glowing giant battery. Her eyes then glowed yellow as she called the beast out.

**"Parallax. You are to be summoned. Now come forth!"**  she said in augmented voice. At that instant a glowing yellow arm shot out from the battery and grabbed her. She struggled to breathe as the parasite like being's head came forth from the battery and roared.

**_"You do not order me Guardian!"_**  it said tossing her aside right next to Orochimaru. Both he and Sinestro looked panicked as the giant entity stood at its full height towering them.

**_"So Sinestro. Have you found another useless host for me to try and inhabit? I will not accept substandard hosts any longer."_** said Parallax.

"Since the last one you had burned from the inside out. Or the one you drove to suicide from his own fears?" said Sinestro. This caused another growl. "Well no need to worry. We have something else in mind."

"Indeed." said Orochimaru who could not help but stare in awe of the being in front of him. "I am Orochimaru, newest member of this Corps. And I have a proposition for you."

Parallax leaned to get a closer look at the rogue ninja.

**_"You are different from the others that I can tell. You have the fear but you have it controlled. More than some anyway._** " he said gesturing to Sinestro.

"I am glad you see that." said Orochimaru. "Now from what Sinestro and Scar have told me, you possess bodies so that you can inhabit them and control them directly. As you can surmise I cannot be easily controlled."

**_"Yes yes get to the point."_**  said Parallax

"What I propose is a partnership. My people have an assortment of techniques. What we call jutsu. If you agree I can perform a ritual where you will be sealed inside of me through a sealing jutsu. You will be out of your cage and through me we will wreak havoc upon our enemies and anyone who gets in the Sinestro Corps way." Orochimaru explained.

Parallax seemed to give it some thought on it.

**_"I will not be a prisoner of anywhere. I am already stuck in that battery. I refuse to be a prisoner in a living being."_**  he said.

"That is not the intention. Essentially you and I will be one being. You will retain your voice, thoughts and any advice and wisdom you have. And our powers will be combined." Orochimaru pitched.

"You will not get a better deal." said Scar recovering from the entity's assault.

**_"Very well."_**  said Parallax.  ** _"Just do whatever your technique requires so we can get to destroy our enemies."_**

Orochimaru did so and started creating the hand signs for the Sixteen Trigrams, Torii Seal. It was a brand new seal he had developed using all of his acquired intelligence on Uzumaki seals. Normally such a jutsu would require eight people to perform. But thanks to the fact that Parallax had agreed with being sealing willingly there won't be a need to suppress its energy and power which in turn meant less effort.

Finishing the hand signs he planted both hand into the ground and the jutsu began its work as he channeled the Mokuton chakra stored in his system to strengthen the seal.

"Fuuin!" he cried. Immediately the energy being known as Parallax began to warp toward Orochimaru's center and transferred itself into directly into his stomach's central tenketsu. Moments later it was finished and underneath the uniform Orochimaru felt the seal on his stomach burning as it was freshly formed.

"Orochimaru can you hear me?" asked Sinestro staring at his glowing form. His uniform manifested yellow armor plating. Orochimaru turned with glowing golden eyes.

"I've never been better." he said with a toothy smile.

**End Chapter**

_Okay guys I can only say that I'm sorry these chapters take as long as they do to get out. But between working on a book, other fanfic ideas, and my job I'm all over the place. I can only hope the chapters are up to quality._

_I would also like to apologize if some found my last chapter wanting. If they did I hadn't intended it to be but since many know that episode by heart I didn't want to be overly detailed. But rest assured it will not be a mistake made again._

_A final note to mention is my beta who also my partner in crime, qtar1984, has helped me a lot with finding ideas and refining what I have initially thought up. So a lot you see here and in the future is as much to him as me._

_So thanks again for the continued support. See you all next time._


	14. Interlude One: New Alliances

Naruto loved to fly.

He first flew during the battle against Kaguya Six Path's mode but never got the chance to truly enjoy it given the battle they were fighting. Since becoming a Green Lantern he was able to experience the joys of it more fully. And he found himself loving the freedom it gave him. In the sky and especially in space.

Even though he knew of the numerous sectors the Guardians had made up of Guardian and space and the territories of every space faring race he still could not help but feel that outer space had no boundaries. Despite the politics and everything else he still felt this way.

The young lantern was heading to his monthly visit to his home planet of Ajnin. On this day there was a ceremony being held and he would not miss it. So then he was surprised to find a damaged cargo ship that was on his usual "route" as it were in space.

"Mayday, Mayday! This is the Dauntless, requesting aid. Our engines are badly damaged. Please help us!" he heard the distress call.

_'Always something.'_  he thought to himself as he flew over. "This is Green Lantern of Sector 2813 responding to your distress call over."

"Oh thank goodness. I thought we would be stuck here." said what Naruto assumed to be the captain of the ship.

"What's your status?" he asked though he could see that it was the engines, from the way they were sparking and not functioning, were the problem.

"We have had some kind of engine failure." the captain confirmed. "My engineers have confirmed that much. It looks like they may have overloaded. Happens sometimes with these older model shuttles. Unfortunately, we don't have the tools on board to fix it."

"I can take you to the nearest space station so you can get it fixed." said Naruto knowing that he was no engineer either. It was a moment later when another voice came on the comm.

"If it is at all possible Green Lantern when you take the ship to a station could you escort me to the planet Ajnin as it has been classified by its people?" said the voice. That got Naruto's notice.

"May I ask why you want to head there?" he questioned in a suspicious tone.

"I'm on a diplomatic mission from Xudar. I am hoping to meet with the planet's leaders in discussing trade partnership and perhaps help them enter the galactic community." he explained.

"And you would be?" Naruto asked.

"My name is Tomar-Tu." said the young man. Naruto immediately knew who that was from the database which told him that Xudarians family names comes first.

"You are Tomar-Re's son." he said after a long pause.

"Yes...how do you know that?" the ambassador asked.

"Let me take your ship to a space dock. I will escort you to Ajnin myself." he said hoping to not answer until then.

"Thank you but you didn't answer the question." said Tomar-Tu. Naruto decided then to bite the bullet.

"Ajnin is my home world and I'm the lantern for this sector...your father's successor as it were." said Naruto.

"I see." said the young Xudarian awkwardly. It was silence after that as Naruto took them to a space station not far. As he put the ship down and the room was again pressurized he saw both the captain and his charge exit the ship.

The captain was an elder Xudarian. If Naruto had to guess in human years he would be about in his mid fifties. The second Xudarian on the other hand was much younger. About his own age in fact. And someone who looked remarkably like Tomar-Re.

**'Except he's not dying.** ' said Kurama. Naruto walked up to the young man.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he introduced bowing to him. "First let me say that I am sorry for you loss. I didn't get the chance to know him but your father was a very good man and a fine Green Lantern."

"I appreciate your courtesy but there is no need to be formal." said Tomar-Tu in a pleasant tone. "It has been many years and though I miss my father I know he is in a better place now. Plus it helps to know that the sector of his and my home world is being so well protected by the man his ring had chosen."

"You are too kind." said Naruto.

"I'm serious Naruto. Truth be told is you are the reason my government wants to go to your home world. Especially given that you are the Hero of the Betrassian Blitz." said Tomar-Tu. That made Naruto confused.

"I'm sorry what did you call me?" he asked.

"You don't know?" Tomar-Tu questioned. Naruto shook his head. "That's what they are calling you. After you single handily stopped the largest attack in Frontier space. Its galactic news." he said with a smile as he saw the young ninja's expression.

"There were many heroes on that day." said Naruto not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes but who was the one who destroyed the destroyers to save the Sapphire's sent there? Who was there to destroy the army and defeat Ragnar and the Sinestro Corps two members there?" the Xudarian questioned.

**'When he puts it like that...'** said Kurama also surprised at this development.

"In any case you said you wanted to go Ajnin. Why?" Naruto asked getting away from this subject.

"Yes. Mainly thanks to the reputation you have gathered we feel it is time for us to introduce ourselves. After all we are neighbors and if your people wish to join the intergalactic society then I feel we may be able to help. Whether it would be helping build your ships or when dealing with a species you don't know about." said Tomar-Tu.

Naruto had to admit that he and the Xudarians could help his people in a major way. Tazuna and his crew were good builders but even with Natu's help it would seem to be a daunting task for them with their inexperience to start building a ship. Xudarians on the other hand had long been a space faring people with their interest in science which space travel was known to expand. He then smiled under his mask and the chances of this happening now of all times.

"Then we'd best be off now before we miss it." Naruto said immediately encompassing Tomar-Tu in a bubble.

"Miss what?" said the Xudarian.

"The coronation of the new Hokage." said Naruto as they flew off and out of the station. He didn't want to be late.

**(Ajnin, Konoha)**

"As you all know this day was coming." said Tsuande to the crowd of her village with the other Kage standing with her on the Gokage building as well as Naruto and his guest. "And though it is not who we all thought it would be I am proud to say that it is his teacher that I give this hat to." she then turned the person and handed it to him.

"I hereby name Kakashi Hatake as your new Hokage!" she announced as Kakashi stepped forward to take the hat and put it on to the cheering and applause of the village and the Gokage present with Naruto and Tomar-Tu standing for them.

The crowd soon dispersed and they headed into the office where the official meeting between The Xudarian and the Gokage would begin.

After shaking hands Tomar-Tu went straight to business.

"As Naruto informed me while on the way to your planet I understand that you are attempting space travel. Building a ship obviously being the first step."

"Attempting would be us saying we were making progress when in truth we are still trying to figure out the designs that Naruto gave us." said Kakashi.

"These designs are from Earth yes?" asked Tomar-Tu, Kakashi nodded. "May I see them?" he asked. Kakashi pulled out the pad from the desk and gave it to him. The young Xudarian pondered on the plans for several minutes.

"The plans while advanced by human standards are relatively simple for us. And with our help for you as well." he said finally handing the datapad back.

"What do you propose exactly?" asked A getting into the conversation

.

"What my government is proposing is essentially lending you our expertise. We can help you building this design of ship and also larger one if and when the time comes. Not to say building them for you but to show you how to build what will be your fleet. On top of which with the Green Lantern's help we can guide you on trade in space and on the cultures you will be meeting when you send your first ship." Tomar-Tu explained.

"A generous offer to be sure." said Oonoki. "But what do you gain in return?"

"A chance to explore your culture and introduce you to ours. A mutual exchange of knowledge, if you would. And a chance for you to gain your first ally in the galactic community." said Tomar-Tu.

The Gokage looked to each other. They all knew that sooner or later the rest of the space sector would take an interest in their home planet. And everything that the young man was saying seemed sincere.

"Naruto you're our expert when it comes to these matters. Is what Tomar-Tu saying the truth?" asked Kakashi

"I do Lord Hokage." said Naruto being formal with Kakashi while in the room with a dignitary. "The Xudarians are an advanced people by most standards who practice many arts and sciences and have made alliances that benefit anyone in their borders. I know that they would be more than willing to help us as we advance as well."

"Alright then." said Kakashi. "I say we take young Tomar-Tu on his offer. All in favor?"

"Aye!" was what the rest of the Gokage response.

"It will however take time for us to make up the paper work for this to become official. We still need to talk with the Daimyo on this matter. Though I think I speak for my fellow Kage when I say I am confident that they will agree to the proposal." said Gaara.

"I understand. If you don't mind I could use a place to stay until its done." said the Xudarian.

"We will arrange it." said Kakashi. "I will have one of our Jounin escort you to where you will be staying." he then gestured to one of the Jounin and from there escorted him out of the office.

"If there is no other business I say we adjourn." he said. As they left Naruto stayed behind.

"Been Hokage for only fifteen minutes and already made history with getting the Gokage to allow negotiations for an alliance with Xudar. Not a bad way to start." said Naruto with a smile on his face.

"Which would not have happened if said Green Lantern didn't allow this to happen." Kakashi pointed out. Even with his mask on Naruto could tell that he was smiling underneath it. He turned serious again when he stood up from his chair.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"I can't help but feel like a fraud right now." said Kakashi. "It should be you in this office not me."

His former student just sighed.

"We've been over this Kakashi-Sensei. Too many times in fact. I gave up on being a Kage and I don't want it. You're the better pick and that's that."

"But Naruto-"

"No buts, alright! Sheesh can we please not talk about this." said Naruto trying to change the subject. "In any case did Granny tell you what I needed before I arrived?"

"She did. In fact she had the Science division work on what you wanted." said Kakashi as he ushered another Jounin who had the item that the young man asked for. The device itself looked to be some kind of wrist band device with a meter shown on its top.

"The name we think of giving the finished product of this is still unknown but the way that they said is that it attaches to the arm of the using and measures how far someone's chakra network is developed. Though I don't see why you needed something like this." said Kakashi as he handed his former student the device.

"I fought with someone on Earth. And he had a chakra network." Naruto stated. Kakashi's eyes widened at this.

"Are you certain? I remember Neji saying that when he first scanned Hal Jordan that he didn't have one." said Kakahsi.

"He doesn't. The person I fought had one as a side effect to a curse he was under." Naruto explained. "One placed upon him by a godlike being named Odin."

"Not so different from Hagoromo and him giving us chakra." said Kakashi. "Naruto I don't have to tell you what happened after he did that."

"I know we had four world wars before we finally got our act together. I get what you are saying Kakashi-Sensei and I realize how dangerous this road could turn into." said Naruto. "Which is why I am only limiting to three people on my team that I think have the most likely chance to have any form of chakra in their systems. Or at least the potential for one."

"Why only three of them?" the new Hokage asked.

"Mainly because the other three are aliens in nature so I don't know exactly what would happen if I tried awakening a network in one of them. M'gann I'm pretty sure at the moment might not have one not that she needs it given that she is a Martian. Wally and Superboy on the other hand can't have one though I think they might have something else all together if I tried." Naruto explained looking at the device.

"Well I will leave that decision in your hands. You've earned that much. Just please don't send another planet on the same road as us." said Kakashi.

"I won't." said Naruto with certainty. "Anyway I'm going to say hi to Hinata and Kiba at the compound and see how they are doing."

"Don't forget your friends from the Corps Natu and Tomy-Fai." said Kakashi which had Naruto's eyes widened.

"They're here on Ajnin?" he asked.

"Yes they are. Turns out Natu was fascinated with the Hyuga clan's fighting style and asked Hinata to see about learning how to use it. Even though she doesn't have chakra she wanted to see how it could be applied to someone who couldn't use it. And involved that other lantern as well, Tomy-Fai. They have been coming and going on Ajnin for about six months now." Kakashi explained.

This news intrigued the young lantern.

"Best see what going on then." said Naruto as he left the building.

**(Hyuga Clan Compound)**

Naruto arrived at the compound and rather than just flying in the center had decided to walk there. And when he meant walk there he meant be as stealthy as he could. Since ending the Fourth Great Ninja War he seemed to have acquired Sasuke's problem of fangirls around. Becoming a Green Lantern had not helped in this matter.

As he approached the door and knocked, he found Kiba standing in the entrance.

"Kiba what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Waiting for Hinata to finish with your friends' lesson for the day. Come in it's just about done." said Kiba allowing him inside. As they walked to where they were training Naruto could not help but notice how familiar the Inuzuka was with the place.

**'That means something.'**  Kurama commented on. Naruto noticed it too given how Kiba seemed to walk with a certain ease as well as the smile that seemed to be plastered on his face.

They opened the door and there stood Hinata who, as Kakashi had said, showing both Natu and Tomy-Fai in gi's instead of their uniforms with Hinata teaching them a fighting form with the now large dog Akamaru laying down watching.. It was then that they noticed him enter the room.

"Hello Kiba and Naruto." said Hinata walking over and going into Kiba's arms and Akamaru went to his master's side. Naruto looked at them for a moment and could not help but feel a bit jealous. Not at Kiba or the fact that Hinata is with him. He was in fact quite happy for them. It was just in that moment as he saw them with each other made him wish he had what they did.

Shaking his head he turned to his two fellow Lanterns in their gis.

"Well this is a surprise. Looking for some additional skills ladies?" Naruto asked.

"That and more." said Tomy-Fai.

"While doing research on the healing properties of chakra, which by the way will take me years to completely understand, I became interested in how the Hyuga were able to attack chakra points to neutralize their enemies. Now though I can't use the same technique I asked your friend to teach me how it could be used for non-chakra users." Natu explained.

"Essentially we found out that using pressure points on the enemy works as a substitute." said Hinata still in Kiba's arms.

"Makes sense. So how did you rope Tomy-Fai in doing it with you?" Naruto asked.

"Mainly I found the practice relaxing and a way to get some stress off." said Natu.

"And she believed that I could learn some more combat styles and help me deal with stresses I have. From past and present." said the ginger haired Lantern with a somber tone.

Naruto nodded in acceptance of that. For the most part Tomy-Fai had gotten over her time being the Sinestro Corps prisoner but he could also tell that there were some days that she was still haunted by what happened.

"Speaking of trauma how is Guy Gardner doing?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"You mean that idiot who tried to hit on Lady Tsunade?" said Kiba with Akamaru barking in acknowledgment.

"Yeah that guy." said the young shinobi as he remembered seeing Guy in the state that he was in.

**(Flashback)**

Naruto, still in uniform, walked down the corridors of the hospital after he heard the news. Being escorted by Shizune and Iruka Naruto had to see for himself if what he heard from them was true.

When he entered that hospital room and saw him he believed it.

"Did anyone warn him not to flirt with Granny?" he asked seeing the man known as Guy Gardner in a body cast from torso to toe with only his black swollen eyed face still being seen.

"I didn't get the chance. He touched her rear and then it happened so fast that I couldn't stop it. Not that I really wanted to he's been arrogant since he first arrived." said Shizune to which Iruka agreed.

"Surprised she didn't kill him to be honest." he said.

"I'm lying right here!" exclaimed Guy. "Don't you people have healing powers or something?"

"We do. We have made sure that you won't die and have made sure that you regain the use of your body in time. But they are doing nothing else. Maybe some time in a full body cast will give you some time to think on what you have done." said Naruto with his arms crossed. "In the mean time I'm going to make sure you haven't mess with my sector any more then you tried to do with Granny who happens to be one of my worlds leaders."

Guy just grumbled but said nothing.

**(End Flashback)**

Naruto could not help but smile at the memory.

"To answer your question is recovery is nearly complete and I will be able to tell the Guardians that he will be back to active duty within the next week or so." said Natu. It was then that Hinata spoke up.

"Naruto are you still going to your shogi game with Shikmaru? If you are Temari wanted to know if you could make this afternoon." said Hinata.

"Date night?" Naruto guessed to which the Hyuga nodded. "I will be there in an hour. It will still be well before dark."

"Why an hour?" asked Natu as he moved to leave the home.

"I need a haircut." he said.

**(Nara Compound one hour later)**

Naruto arrived at the door to the compound and knocked on the door. Again to his surprise instead of Shikamaru's mother Temari, his girlfriend, opened the door.

"I see you got my message." said Temari commenting on the time. She also noticed his now cropped short hair.

"Nice haircut." she said walking him to where Shikamaru's room is which Naruto assumed that he already had the shogi board ready.

"Yeah I thought it was time for a change. And don't worry I won't let the game get to far into the night so you guys can have your date." said Naruto.

"Appreciate that. He thinks he's trying to annoy me by saying your games might be long but I know him and you better than that." said Temari. "You know it's not too late to find someone you know."

"Not you too." he grumbled.

"It's everyone Naruto. We all appreciate what you have done for us but we want you to be happy too." said Temari.

"I am." said Naruto with a small smile.

**'You are fibbing.'**  said Kurama

_'C'mon not today furball.'_  said Naruto.

"Anyway these days I'm just too busy for a girlfriend. Xudar is about to ally with us which will help with our building of ships, on top of trying to keep the sector order in and now my time with the Team. Way too busy." he explained with a smile.

Temari knew that smile from anywhere. The smile that was trying to hide his feelings and trying to pass it off as him be resolute in his decision. She decided to let it go for now.

They entered Shikamaru's room.

"Remember the time boys." she said and left them to their game.

"First I find Kiba at the Hinata compound now I find your girlfriend here in the Nara compound. Things getting serious enough for you guys to start moving in together?" Naruto questioned as he sat down across from Shikamaru.

"Looks that way. Mom loves her so she gets free reign. We actually think it's a good idea since Gaara can't be here all the time so we could use someone to represent the Sand Village and it's not like we don't have the room." said Shikamaru as he and his opponent set their pieces.

"Plus you get to see her all the time. That's always good." Naruto said in a melancholy tone. "Let the game begin."

And so they did while also talking about how the new alliance is pretty much a guarantee with the Daimyo. The young Nara had said that everything that has Naruto's approval these days was gold to them to which Naruto just shrugged.

In the end their game ended conveniently when dusk had started to settle with Naruto almost winning again. Though Shikamaru had noticed that he seemed a bit sloppier in his strategies then normally but he figured Temari talked to him and decided to speed up Shikamaru's victory so that he had time to get ready for their date.

After eating his bowls of ramen with Shizune and Iruka he headed back to his apartment to get some sleep.

**(Days Later)**

Shikamaru was not wrong. The Daimyo immediately agreed to the treaty. And like any group of politicians they wanted to make it a grand spectacle with parades and celebrations abound across Ajnin and all the countries after the ceremony was over.

As for the ceremony itself the Daimyo, the Kage, and all the leaders of the world bore witness to the signing of the treaty with Naruto as the mediator to confirm everything with Tomar-Tu and the Kage standing together.

It was time then for Naruto to escort Tomar-Tu back to Xudar on his way back to Earth. But before they left Ajnin there was one place they had to go to.

"This is where he died?" said Tomar-Tu standing the in the same spot in the Forest of Death that Naruto was sent to after he grabbed the ring two years ago.

"Postive." he said standing some distance away to give him some space. And he was right. How could he forget that this is where his life had changed forever?

**'Kinda hard not to forget being dragged by an intergalactic piece of jewelry.'**  said Kurama echoing his hosts thoughts.

"You know we had a memorial service after we got the news. Mother and I. We had to settle for something more posthumously since the Guardians never let us had his body until about a year later. Wanted to examine his body for anything that might help fight Sinestro." he said wiping his face to keep tears from falling.

Naruto had not known this. He should have though given how the Guardians seem to think they have the best interest of the universe as whole in mind and didn't seem to care about individuals whether it be a person or a single race. He had decided to remain silent and let Tomar-Tu stand for a long period of time

"He would be proud of you I think Tomar-Tu." Naruto finally said. "With this treaty our races become allies and hopefully make sure that our sector will remain free and safe."

Tomar-Tu turned to Naruto and held out his hand.

"He would also be proud to find his successor has ensured that future and made sure that his death was not in vain."

Naruto shook the hand that was presented. He created a bubble that encircled them both and they flew off.

Naruto had another home to return to. And he got the feeling that all their stories was just beginning.

**(End Chapter)**

_Finally got this out before or during Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays everyone. I am sorry again for taking so long but after the AN I posted I have been stuck on just about everything and am just now getting my head on straight. I would also like to apologize for the length of this but me and qtar1984 thought it was time for a little world building. And to further address the whole chakra situation here is the bottom line._

_Only three of the members of the Team will be receiving a rudimentary chakra network since they are already teenagers to young adults and only one will be doing any kind of jutsu and that is the end of it. Who those are you will just have to keep reading if you can put up with my tardiness._

_Also I know that there will be those for NaruHina pairing so let me say this. Though I am still kinda a NaruSaku fan I am not a fanatic and actually enjoy that pairing as well. But that is canon Naruto not mine in this story. Just wanted to get that out there._

_On a final note I now have my own blog on tumblr. It's on my profile here on if you guys want to read it. I have something for my book on there already so please send me a pm if you decide to check it out._

_I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will see you all again for the next chapter of Light and Shadow._


	15. Downtime

The Team lay on the ground defeated and overpowered by their latest enemy, Clayface. They were covered in muck from his attacks and all but Aqualad were unconscious though himself just barely.

He looked up and saw the monster known as Clayface about to finish them off when Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him almost instantly, his hand shining with lightning, striking at Clayface, dissolving him onto the ground before them in a puddle of goo.

Kaldur would have worried if not for the fact that the criminal had been known to be extremely if not impossible to kill. Naruto then had Clayface contained in a bubble and awaited Batman as he arrived on the scene.

No words were said as he, the Team, and Batman dropped off Clayface in a specialized cell in Arkham Asylum. It was only after arriving back at Mount Justice that Batman spoke.

"Team hit the showers. Everyone else head home." said Batman.

"Home? I am home." said Superboy as he walked off.

"Me and M'gann too." said Naruto.

"I need to speak with Aqualad." said the Dark Knight. Both he and Robin stood at attention.

"Just Aqualad." said Batman getting a strange look from Robin but did as he was asked. Naruto however stayed behind.

"I said just Aqualad." said Batman.

"I don't follow your orders and I would also like to hear what happened." said the young shinobi.

"Very well." said Batman.

"I owe you thanks for your assistance Naruto." said Kaldur.

"I just want to know why you didn't have us coordinate the attack against Clayface. In fact your head wasn't even in the game tonight." said Naruto.

"The Green Lantern is correct." agreed the Dark Knight. "The Team was on point. You, their leader, was distracted and not focused."

"No you are-" Kaldur began before taking a deep breath. "Correct."

"Why is the question?" said Naruto knowing that in this line of work a moment's distraction could get you killed.

"As of late I am not convinced I belong on the surface world. For years it had filled my every thought. But now that I am here my dreams are of my home, of Atlantis."

"Is it the place or someone you left behind?" Naruto asked.

Kaldur was shocked. "How did you know?"

"I've been there." said Naruto.

"Regardless," Batman intervened. "You can make time in between the surface world and the sea. Your mind cannot. You are either here one hundred percent or you need to walk away. Make a decision Kaldur and make it soon."

Kaldur knew that he was right. Naruto time was split between going to his homeworld, being on the Team, and assisting Black Canary in training them. He had no such excuse.

"Kaldur." the Lantern called out. "I don't think we are due for another mission for a while. Take the time off and consider what you want. And know that no matter what your decision we got your back."

"Thank you." said the Atlantean as he moved to the Zeta-Tube and disappeared into it.

"For his sake I hope he makes the right choice." said Batman.

"For the Team, or for himself?" Naruto asked.

"Both." he responded before turning to Naruto. "It may mean that the Team will need new leadership if Kaldur decides to stay in the sea."

"You think Robin is ready now? Both he and Kaldur agreed that he wasn't ready for the responsibility." said Naruto.

"Perhaps." said Batman. Noticing how fast Naruto mentioned Robin as the new leader told the detective that Naruto was not looking to take the lead, at least not now. Despite reports from Red Tornado that everyone, including Aqualad, have been looking to him for advice, tips, or someone to talk to.

"I'm guessing your chakra network allows you to control elements. Hence the lightning attack that you used on Clayface." he said changing the subject.

"Among other things yes." said Naruto.

"I saw the report from when you fought Prince John. That technique you used was the same." he stated.

"Correct. Though, obviously I couldn't kill him with that attack since it's seemingly impossible to actually find his heart." Naruto explained.

"And if it wasn't?" Batman asked suspiciously.

"Then I would use something that didn't kill him." Naruto stated. "I don't look to kill my enemies at all times Batman. John needed an honorable death to go to Valhalla."

The two glared at each other before Batman seemed to relent.

"Alright then. Be sure to inform the Team that they have some downtime. That includes you as well." he said. Turned to the Zeta-Tube programmed the computer to take him to the watch tower to which he left in.

**'You know one of these days I get the feeling you two are going to come to blows. At least this time he actually saw your point.'**  said Kurama.

_'Yeah for now. He doesn't trust me and I'm not sure I trust him all that much either.'_ _said Naruto as he changed from his uniform to his civilian attire._ _'At any rate I better give the news to the others then get some sleep.'_

Naruto went to do just that when Artemis appeared.

"Hey. Anything happen while I was out?" she asked.

"Yeah. I will tell you about it on the way to the others." said Naruto.

**(The next day)**

Kaldur stood in front of the Zeta-Tube about to enter his code for it to activate.

"Kaldur just a minute." called out the voice of Naruto. Kaldur did so and saw that he had the rest of the Team behind him

"I haven't made my decision to leave the Team. There is no need for a farewell sendoff yet." said the Atlantean.

"And as much relief as that gives us that's not what he wanted us for Kaldur." said M'gann.

Kaldur looked to Naruto and noticed that he had a device in his hand.

"I'm assuming that this has something to do with what we talked about earlier about the possibility of some of us possessing a chakra network or the potential to have one?"

"You would assume correctly." said Naruto. "Do not worry though this will not take long. The way this works that you put it on. I then put some of my chakra to scan your system. This device will show me an image of any chakra in a person's body. Depending on whether the chakra flows into a pattern will determine if any one of you has meridian system and if it can be developed into a chakra network."

"Won't any alien origins play a part to this?" asked M'gann. "Or even those who possess magical abilities like Kaldur does?"

"More than likely yes though I am not sure." said Naruto. "Chakra is a mixture of physical and spiritual energy so in effect all life forms should have those. But this is all theory until we test it."

"I say let's try it and see what comes of it." said Wally eager to see if he could acquire new powers along with the new skills that Dinah and Naruto had been pounding into his skull.

"I'm in." said Superboy simply. This acknowledgment was compounded by nods and yes's from the rest of the Team.

"On that note let's begin." said Naruto. "Basically what this will this device will do is that it will show me whether or not you have a meridian system. The way it works is that I will channel a small bit of my chakra into you so that the device can get a reading. Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Now I will use it first to demonstrate how it works." Naruto attached the device to his wrist. The indicator on it showed his a part of his chakra network much like what he was told by Hinata when she used the Byakugan. It showed a section of his chakra network and showed how it flowed throughout his network as he moved the device up and down his arm.

"As you can see it works like an x-ray or a stethoscope. My chakra will seek out and flow into your meridian system if you have one, making it a chakra network, if my idea is right anyways. Does anyone know about the Meridian system?" he asked.

"Batman explained it to me when I trained with him." said Robin.

"The concept was a part of it with the Genomes taught me along with other facts." said Superboy. "Essentially it's a philosophy that the energy known as 'Qi' exists in all forms of life and this system is the means that it travels through the body."

"Yep. Though I'm not sure that Qi and chakra are the same thing. In that sense we will just stick to chakra for now." said Naruto. "Now who wants to be first?"

Each member was more than a little curious on what the machine would say and if they did have something in common with their friend. Superboy was first as Naruto attached the device to his arm and channeled the chakra into the boy of steel.

"You feel anything yet?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. I'm feeling warm. Not a bad kind. Like something rising. Like the sun almost." said the clone.

Naruto looked at the device and saw that the chakra he sent in had done something. There was no chakra network but he could see energy spiking in his body.

"Alright. That's something to explore later. In the mean time best I get this off." said Naruto. Superboy nodded in agreement but was a tad reluctant as Naruto took the device off.

"M'gann you're turn." he said. She stepped up to him and placed the device on her arm and did the same thing to her.

'As much I would like to have more powers I would prefer to master the ones I have first. Hope I don't mess up the machine!' Naruto suddenly heard in his mind.

_"M'gann did you link us up?"_  he asked.

_"No why?"_ she answered.

_'"Because I just heard your voice in my head, are you hearing mine?'"_ Naruto asked.

" _Yes. Naruto, I ask to link up before I start, I swear."_ said M'gann.

" _It's alright. Looks like the device has created some psychic link between us as soon as I sent chakra into your system.'"_ he explained.  _"It should be off once the device is off you. How are you feeling?"_

_'"Fine for the most part. Better than fine actually. It's like my powers are augmented almost."_

" _Well aside from that I don't see anything resembling a chakra network. We're done here."_  he thought taking the device off. She shook her head as the effects wore off and they could both feel the link being broken.

_'Kurama did she detect you at all?'_  he asked his partner.

**'No I managed to keep myself shielded. Be more careful though next time.'** said the tailed beast.  **'How do you think that happened?'**

_'Must be because of her being a Martian. Her mind and body are essentially one and the same.' he responded. 'The device didn't see a chakra network but it still created a Ninshu like empathic bond between us when my chakra flowed into her.'_

**'Makes sense. Better move it along though.'**  said Kurama.

"Alright Kaldur you're next." said Naruto. The leader of the Team stood up and Naruto put the device on. As he sent his chakra into the device he looked inside it and saw that his chakra flowed more like bubble on water. Almost like it was rejecting the chakra instead of melding.

"Looks like it's not mixing. Almost as if something in your system already has something in it to begin with. You're magic maybe." said Naruto as he took the device off.

"Makes sense. My powers are derived from what I learned of magic from Atlantis." said Aqualad. From his tone the shinobi could tell that he was eager to get back to his home.

"We're almost done Kaldur." said Naruto. "Wally you're next."

Naruto put the device on and flowed his chakra into the young speedster.

"Huh. Feels like I drank an espresso." he said feeling buzzed on energy. Naruto looked at the read out and didn't see anything.

"Strange. Almost at the same moment I sent it the chakra that was supposed to be in your system it just disappeared." said Naruto.

"Huh. Must have something to do with me being a speedster or something." said Wally.

"You feel anything weird?" Naruto asked.

"Aside from being buzzed from a caffeine binge no. I'm fine." he said.

"Guess that's that." said Naruto

That left the ones he was most certain had a meridian system. Robin and Artemis. Sure enough as he put the device on them he found that as he put a little of his chakra in their systems he could begin to see their chakra networks activate.

"Whoa." said Artemis as she felt the warmth in her body.

"Yeah. Feels kinda weird. Kinda nice but weird. Like something awakening." said Robin.

"Don't get too excited guys." said Naruto looking at the device. "You both have a chakra network but it's not nearly as well developed as the non fighters of my world never mind a fully active pure bred ninja."

"So what does that mean?" said Artemis with her hands on her hips.

"It means for you two at least that while you might not be able to use jutsu given how underdeveloped your networks are we can still have you develop new tricks to add to your arsenals." said Naruto

"Such as?" Robin asked.

"Being able to walk on walls and possibly water." said Naruto then turning to Artemis. "Or maybe adding elemental changes to your projectile weapons such as your arrows." he then turned to Robin. "Or your batarangs."

Robin and Artemis gave him a look that looked between caution and perhaps curiosity.

"It's up to you guys. I'm not going to force this so just talk to me if and when you are ready." said Naruto. "As for the rest of you please let me know if there are any side effect to the chakra I just used. Though it was small and you don't seem to have been effected I want to know."

"Understood." said Kaldur. "Well I must be off now."

"Kaldur whatever happens know that we got your back dude." said Wally to which Robin nodded in agreement.

"Same for the rest of us." said Superboy.

"Thank you. All of you." said Kaldur as he turned to the Zeta-Tube and entered his authorization. He then disappeared.

Red Tornado entered the room shortly after.

"Hey Red." said Naruto noticing him there. "Are there any missions that have been made available?"

"Not at this time. But as I have stated in the past that is for Batman to decide and he has already determined that for not you are all off duty." said the android remembering the last time he told the Team and the mission they went on to find Kent Nelson which lead to his death and the retrieval of the Helmet of Fate.

"Okay looks like we got some free time guys." said Naruto.

"In that case I need to head home and prep my arrows. See ya guys later." said Artemis as she left.

"Yeah I got a birthday party to attend with my family." said Wally with a wave.

"Yeah I gotta get home too." said Robin. They all left via Zeta-Tube.

"So I guess that's that." said Superboy as he and M'gann walked away to their rooms or wherever else in the cave. Red Tornado also flew back up to his quarters above.

**'Guess it's just us huh kid.'**  said Kurama

_'Yeah. Might as well get some sword practice in.'_ said Naruto taking his coat off and making himself a sword construct. Though not a katana or a ninja-to. It was in fact a long sword. Typical design with it being double bladed, oval hilt, and a cross guard.

Since his fight with Prince John the shinobi had decided to expand his knowledge when it came to sword technique. Though he still preferred what he had been taught weapon wise through Laira and through his own training with ninja weapons he had to admit that this particular model of sword had its advantages. The point of the blade had slightly more penetrating power in his opinion and he learned that the cross guard could be used to catch an enemy's weapon if needed.

He went with a hand and a half variant of the sword. As he swung around the one thing he was trying to do was get used to the weight of the weapon. When he trained with weapon constructs with Laira she had told him to make sure to make the weapons weight and feel be as close to the actual thing as possible. She told him that being from a warrior culture herself and being trained in multiple weapons she found during her first years as being a Green Lantern she found that the constructs were too light and had done her best to change that.

Naruto took that lesson to heart. Though they both agreed that there was nothing wrong with others in the Corps keeping their constructs lighter since not all came from fighting backgrounds as they did. It was just their personal perspective on things.

After testing the weight he moved and spun around using the sword as he would if he were in battle. Slicing, stabbing and twirling in the air as if moving through enemy troops. Naruto thought about summoning some clones but decided that could wait for another time.

After practicing his sword technique for what seemed like a couple hours Naruto had stopped. For some reason he seemed fluster about something. Evidence when he threw his sword away which thankfully just disappeared.

**'Something up?** ' asked the tailed beast.

_'Nothing, just having a little issue with where I fit on this Team, or even this planet for that matter,'_  Naruto said in his mind.

Lately since his exile from his sector he wasn't really sure what to do with himself aside from missions with the rest of his teammates which he had to admit while could be interesting they were fewer than what he did previously. On top of the fact that he wasn't sure where on the Team he fit since everyone had their designated roles more or less.

He shook it aside and decided to do one of the things that helped relax besides fighting evil. After picking his jacket and putting it on he created a piano in the center of the room. From there he created a seat for himself and started playing the piano improvisation of the jazz song "Body and Soul". While Ganthet always preferred more classical music Naruto found himself more into Earth's jazz, since that music allowed more emotion to be expressed. Especially with the blues.

As he played he closed his eyes and just let himself flow through the keys as he played the song on his keys moving through them as if his hands already knew what they were going to do before he did. He listened to the echo of the cave as the music played and found the place he was in was the best place acoustically and it pleased him to hear his playing echo throughout it.

What felt like hours when in fact it was only a few minutes Naruto finished the song and felt more relaxed than he did earlier. That is until he started to hear clapping from behind him.

He turned to see Dinah standing there clapping her hands.

"Don't stop on my account." said Dinah with a smile on her face.

"Dinah!" Naruto exclaimed standing up from his seat at the piano blushing in embarrassment that someone was in the room while he was playing.

"I didn't know there was a lesson today. Sorry I will just put this away." said Naruto already starting to make the piano disappear.

"No please. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just heard what happened with the mission with Clayface and I wanted to see how you all were doing." said Dinah.

"We're okay. The Team suffered some bruises but nothing serious. Though wither or not Kaldur will return remains in question." Naruto explained hoping to change the subject.

"Hope he does." said Dinah. "I didn't know you played the piano." she said getting back to the subject matter and walking up to him.

"Uh yeah." he said scratching the back of his head and looking at the piano construct. "It's a hobby I picked up. A friend of mine, Ganthet, said I needed something to help me relax."

"I figured. You're quite good by the way." she complemented.

"Thanks." said Naruto.

"That song you were playing that was "Body and Soul" wasn't it. 1930's I think." she said placing the song.

"Yeah. He prefers more classical music. I like Earth's jazz though. Jazz you can play with just about any emotion. Whether you are angry or sad or happy, and it's just fun to play." said Naruto.

"One of my favorite songs "Fever", I like to sing it whenever I get the chance." said Dinah.

"You sing?" said Naruto.

"Yes. Surprised?" said Dinah. "I know my power is a scream that can level at least a building but I've trained to use it properly. I happen to have a very good voice."

"I don't doubt it." said Naruto in an apologetic tone. It was then that he was reminded of something.

"It's a good thing you came." he said suddenly as he summoned a clone and told him to go to his room and get the device he had used earlier from the others.

"That's a handy trick making clones of yourself. Not the first kind of replication I have seen though."

"I figured." said Naruto as the clone came back with the device.

"I'm assuming that thing is used for what you were talking about before? Seeing if anyone has this chakra network that you have I mean." she guessed

"Yep. This is the thing. And if you want I can use it to see if you got one." Naruto offered to Dinah's surprise.

"Really? I didn't think I qualify since I already have powers." said the heroine.

"Actually I think that makes you more viable." said Naruto. "I've already tested the rest of the Team and found only Robin and Artemis have one though not nearly as developed as those on my world. You on the other hand might have more potential than they do since you already have powers. Wally got his power from an experiment, but you were born with the potential to develop your power."

"How does that affect the outcome of whether or not that I have a chakra network or not?" she asked.

"Because your powers are natural. You were born with them. And since chakra is a mixture of physical and spiritual energy it stands to reason that having been born with superpowers would make a person like yourself more viable." Naruto explained

The thought had intrigued Dinah she had to admit. After all as a martial artist who studied under numerous masters, most became her friend and others more like father or mother figures, she knew just as much as anyone how important it was to have multiple options. And she knew that also came to having more than one superpower. Superman being a prime example of having multiple abilities was an advantage.

So being offered the chance to extend her arsenal was something she would be a fool to pass up. However, that didn't mean she should just go easily. First she wanted to see for herself what Naruto was made of. And perhaps get the chance to sate some of her curiosity in the process.

"You make a good case Naruto but you have to do something first before I let you scan me with that thing." she said

"And what's that?" Naruto asked. Dinah smiled and walked to the center of the chamber.

"You spar a lot right?" she asked.

"Yeah with my clones when I need to." said Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

"How about going a few rounds with me?" she asked. "You win we get to see if I have a chakra network or not."

"And if you win?" Naruto questioned though behind the suspicion she could tell there was a bit of interest in his words as well.

"You get to tell me something about yourself." she said taking off her jacket and setting it aside. "C'mon you have to admit you are kinda a mystery to everyone here. Nothing too extensive just something. Family, friends from home, all up to you."

Naruto took a moment to think on that before turning dropping his own jacket and taking off his ring and putting it on top of it having his eyes go back to their clear blue.

"Deal." he said with a smile and getting into his Frog Kata stance. Dinah in turn took her fighting stance which he guessed may be kickboxing though given how extensive her knowledge of fighting styles he didn't know for certain.

For the first few minutes but what seemed longer they just stood there switching their postures to cover any blind spots in their respective stances while also looking for any in each others. She tried to fake a punch to get him off guard but it was clear that he was too disciplined to fall for the trick. Naruto didn't even try to repeat it which meant he felt the same about her.

Since neither could find an opening Dinah decided to force the issue with striking first with a fast jab that Naruto blocked. He returned fire with a jab of his own to which she blocked. Two back and forth jabs later Naruto decided to move and tried a right cross. She dodged it and responded with a left cross to which Naruto moved out of the way of which then lead to her using a leg kick which again he blocked but she twisted to a spinning roundhouse kick that landed on his stomach.

Dinah moved to press but Naruto recovered intercepting her punch by punching the inside of her arm. He then managed to hit her torso with a palm strike and landed a right cross to her face sending her spinning. She used that momentum however and used it for a spinning heel kick. Naruto caught the foot and pulled her in grabbing her arms behind her but staying in front of her getting them closed enough to feel their breath.

"You're holding back." Naruto noted.

"Yes." she said.

"Don't." said Naruto with a smile. Dinah returned the smile, ecstatic to hear that.

**'Uh oh.'**  said Kurama. A sentiment Naruto shared as she used her feet to push herself off him and out of his grip while at the same time hitting him with a flip kick. While still dazed she managed hit him with a jumping spinning back kick which nearly sent him to the floor but he managed to recover.

Dinah moved to press the attack before getting hit with two front kicks and and an elbow to her face. From there he hit with a side kick which she managed to block and the combination of punches which had her staggering as she blocked the spinning back fist. Naruto then jumped and tried to hit with a flying elbow which she grabbed and had them both on the floor with her trying for an armbar.

Naruto for his part was surprised at how strong she was but managed to break the hold and they both flipped to their feet. Both stood appraising each other once again with Naruto rubbing his face and Dinah favoring her side.

**'This girl could give some of the best in taijutsu a run for the money. Hell she appears to be just as skilled as Gai or Lee without their Inner Gates.'**  said Kurama.

_'Whose side are you on?'_ said Naruto as dodged another offensive by Dinah.

**'I'm just saying she's a really good fighter. So are you obviously but gotta give credit where credit is due.'**  said Kurama.

_'Yeah she is.'_  Naruto responded. He then concentrated back on the fight and with a flurry that she managed to block. He then threw a spinning back kick which she dodged but he used the momentum to make another which caught in the face almost knocking her down but she maintained her stance though was still shaky from the hit.

Dinah was starting to breath heavy from the fight. Naruto was breathing as well though she could see that he was not feeling nearly as fatigued as she was.

**'I've got to end this now.'** she thought to herself.  _'Almost don't want to though. Haven't had this much fun in a spar except with Ted.'_ Putting the thoughts aside she braced herself as Naruto moved a punch, elbow combo which she managed to block along the kick that came with it wincing as she did. She countered with a kick to which he blocked but managed a right cross to which he answered with his own.

Then it was an exchange of blocking, dodging or managing to get one hit off before she tried finishing him off with a low leg sweep as she did with Wally. Naruto managed to jump out of the way and before she could get up from her position found herself on the ground with his arm on her neck, needs on his arms sitting on her stomach pressing his weight on her with his fist raised back into a fist for a final blow.

"Do you yield?" he asked with a sweating face. Dinah wanted to try and use her legs but Naruto was pressing too much weight on her to try that. She then just breathed a sigh and nodded. He smiled at that, got off her, and gave her a hand up.

"Good fight." said Naruto in earnest. "Honestly I can say none of my clones can give me a Taijutsu fight they way you did."

"I figured as such. You're skill in taijutsu is also considerable." she answered breathing heavy and sweating. She noticed the confusion on Naruto's face.

"You know what that means?" he asked.

"Yeah. Jutsu is what we call our techniques just like you and I'm assuming you're people call what you use as well. Whether its kenjutsu or taijutsu." she explained.

"Really? Huh didn't know that. Maybe your people and mine have more in common than even I thought." said Naruto.

"Probably." she responded while thinking about what he had offered.

"You're actually one of the people I can count on one hand that I know of that actually beat me in hand to hand." she continued with a smile.

"I do my best." said Naruto.

"No seriously. The only people I have seen who fight like you can are the likes of Wonder Woman and Batman. Maybe Superman too but I've never been able to see him fight because of his speed." said Dinah

"I'm honored." said Naruto in humility of being in such esteemed company. "Though I would put you in the same company as well."

"Thank you." she said.

"Well we made a bet." she said pointing at the device.

"Yeah I guess we did. You don't have to you know." said Naruto walking over and picking up the device.

"It's okay. I'm actually kinda curious to see if I have this chakra network you are talking about." she said. Naruto nodded and placed the device on her arm.

Like before he put some of his chakra into the device and thus into her to find it. He heard her take a breath.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Fine. It just felt good. Warm. Like something had awakened. Something that makes me feel safe." she said looking up at him. They stared at each other for a moment when the machine finished. Naruto immediately shook it off and took the device off her arm and looked at the scanner.

"Well?" she asked.

"Good news. You do have a chakra network just like Artemis and Robin. Unlike them however, yours is far more developed then theirs. Not quite up to a pure blooded ninja but it is pretty close." he explained.

"How close?" she asked with some excitement.

"From what I can see from the device your network is very healthy. Enough that I can get chakra flowing into it which would kick start your own chakra flow. From there I could start teaching you jutsu." he said taking the device off her. "That's the name of the techniques my race uses." he added.

"I know what it means. It's the same thing here on Earth. Jutsu implies using tricks, skills or abilities in just about any form whether it's kenjutsu or martial arts." said Dinah.

Dinah thought for a moment. She had seen some of the jutsu that he had used from his fight with Amazo and she had to admit they were impressive. But also dangerous and she would have to give up some time in order to train to use whatever new powers she would have from the transfer she would undergo.

But she also realized the good that she could do. The crimes and battles she could more easily stop and be better able to keep Ollie and Roy out of danger as well as be a better asset to the league.

"Can I take some time to think about this? As great as it all sounds I don't want to just rush into this." she said.

"Take all the time you need. There's rush order on this I just wanted you to know that the option is on the table." Naruto answered with a reassuring smile that she could not help be put at ease by.

_'We can take pushy off the list of potential bad traits._ ' she thought to herself.

"In any case I could use some water." she said wiping her head of sweat from their sparring match.

"We got some bottled water in the fridge in the kitchen. Come on." said Naruto as he grabbed his ring and put it back on and used it to pick up their jackets. Naruto offered to hers to which she accepted but both just held them since they were too hot and sweaty from their spar.

As they walked to the kitchen they saw Red Tornado leaving from that direction.

"Hey Red what's up?" Naruto asked.

"I believe that I stumbled on something awkward between Superboy and Miss Martian." said the android. The two walked in to the living area and saw the reason why the android had left.

Superboy was looking at the TV but the cable was clearly off since there was just static on the screen. The other thing was he appeared to be covered in cream, tomatoes and whatever else that seemed to have been thrown at him. M'gann was cutting up vegetables in the kitchen. Both of them seemed to be in an awkward silence.

"Okay what happened?" Dinah asked as Naruto went to the fridge and got a bottle of water and tossed another to Naruto to which she caught after putting her jacket back on.

M'gann jumped a bit hearing his voice and turned to see them.

"Oh hi Black Canary." she greeted. "I was just making dinner and Superboy offered to help but I got caught up in my own thoughts and had a little accident." she explained. "I mean 'Hello Megan' I was thinking too much at once."

**'She says that a lot have you noticed?'**  Kurama asked as Naruto took a swig of his water bottle.

_'That quote she uses yeah. Where do you think she got it from?'_  Naruto questioned.

**'Sounds like from one of those old sitcoms from this planet. Probably canceled my guess.'** said Kurama

Naruto smiled and shook his head at his partner.

"Something amusing Naruto?" asked Dinah.

"Nothing in particular." said the young shinobi. He then saw both M'gann and Superboy. He had a thought about something.

'Now that I think about it neither of them have been out of this mountain except for missions right?'

'You're right. They've been cooped up in here for as long as we've been here.' Kurama commented. 'Oh you want to something about it don't you?'

'Yep.' Naruto responded. "M'gann, stop what you are doing. Superboy, get cleaned up. We're going out tonight."

The young man turned around at this.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Yes seriously." Naruto responded. "If that's alright with you Dinah?"

"I'm all for you guys going out." she said with a small smile. "So will Red. The only problem is identities."

"Already got mine." said M'gann excitedly as she put the vegetables she'd cut into the trash. She was obviously referring to her brown dress and skirt.

"Um yeah except for well." Naruto began trying figure out the polite way to say that her skin was still green.

"Just kidding." she said relieving him of that uncomfortable situation by chaining her skin to Caucasian. "Meet Megan Morse." she bowed.

"I'm guessing identities were already made up for her?" he asked Dinah to which she nodding with a smile.

"I guess I will go to." said Superboy as he moved to his room get a quick shower.

"So any ideas on where we should go?" asked M'gann. "Here in Happy Harbor or somewhere else?"

Naruto hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Dinah spoke up thankfully.

"There's a Chinese restaurant in Star City that me and Oliver frequent." said the veteran hero. "Give you guys a chance to explore your tastes buds."

'That sound good to me.' said Kurama. Naruto just smiled at the thought

"Excellent idea." said Naruto.

The Boy of Steel returned to the living area cleaned up and in his now clean, usual attire.

"If we are going out you're going to need to change your shirt dude." said the Ajnian.

"He's right you don't want to risk your identity." said M'gann. The young man shrugged and pulled of his shirt to which M'gann immediately blushed at. He turned it upside down and showed it to the group.

"Will this due?" he asked.

"Works for me." the Martian sighed.

"You are also going to need a name besides Superboy." said Dinah.

"Well I don't have any ideas for one." said Superboy.

"Conner has been a favorite of mine." M'gann suggested. Superboy shrugged accepted.

"A last name will also be needed in case they want a full name. And for the records that Red will make for you eventually." said Naruto.

"How about Kent?" said Dinah with a knowing smile the shinobi shared.

"Like a tribute to Kent Nelson!" exclaimed M'gann.

Naruto and Dinah looked at each other. Naruto just shrugged.

"Yeah that would work."

"I suppose it would be an honor and all that." said the now christened Connor Kent. "In any case do you have any idea where we are going?"

"Dinah mentioned a place where she and Oliver frequent. Sounds as good a place as any and best part for you guys is I'm buying." said Naruto.

Connor smiled and nodded.

"Would you like to come along Dinah?" asked Naruto.

"I suppose. I will need to go back home and change before going anywhere. Won't take me too long via Zeta-Tube though. I will meet you guys there." she said.

"See you there." said Naruto as she walked away. "Come on guys I'm hungry." said Naruto as he lead them to the tube which just finished sending Dinah off. He keyed in the machine that three were leaving for Metropolis and there they disappeared.

**(Atlantis, Posidenous)**

This was not what Kaldur was expecting when he decided to head back to Atlantis. He had been considering returning here to his home to finish his magical training. Or more specifically to be with Tula the girl he loved.

Only to find that he was too late and she had found love in his best friend here in Atlantis, Garth, the other person that his king had thought to take the title of Aqualad.

And in the midst of this rejection and the thoughts of what could have been if he had stayed his home was under attack. The enemy's armor suggested that Black Manta was behind this. He reasoned that sector four of the city, the only place that had not been attacked, was their target. More specifically, the Science Center and the creature in ice that Prince Orm and the scientist Vulko had uncovered.

Knowing their goal Aqualad moved ahead leaving Tula, wounded from protecting Garth, in Garth's care despite his protests.

As he keyed in the code to enter via a secret entrance Kaldur sensed someone approach him from behind. He turned and grabbed the hilt of one of his water-bearers only to find Garth to be the one behind him.

"You should be with Tula." he admonished.

"The queen looks after Tula and sent me to help you." said Garth.

Aqualad decided not to voice his objections and they moved into the tunnel swimming steadily through the halls of the center watching for enemy patrols.

"You have a plan don't you?" asked Garth. He turned only to see his friend not beside him. "Aqualad?"

He then turned to see two of Manta's soldiers upon. An instant later Aqualad was behind them and kicked on while using one of the water maces he made with his bearers to knock out the other. He then turned to a gaping Garth who was amazed at how fast he managed to do that.

"I too have my studies." said Aqualad. He shoved one of the unconscious me towards Garth and started to take off the others armor.

"We can sneak in a hopefully make sure that Manta does not get the creature." he said. Garth understood. They put on the armor and swam towards the hole that the soldiers made. They found Manta and the rest of his men waiting as his sub melted the glass dome above.

They moved in and saw one of the cables surrounding the creature. Before they could do anything though they heard the voice of the leader of this heist.

"Impressive is it not? Aqualad." he stated after he asked the question. Kaldur admonished himself in his head for keeping his water-bearers in such an obvious position as his hip. He shook it off and using the stolen soldier's rifle started firing on Black Manta.

The villain swam away easily from the shots fired and shot his own from the eye beams in his helmet destroy their weapons and knocking them to the other side of the room. Aqualad took off his helmet and used the bearers to create sword blocking shots from Manta and his troops. As Manta fired again he used a water whip, grabbed one of his men by the leg and pulled shielding himself from the attack.

"Such a waste." said Black Manta clearly impressed with the young Atlantean. "Do you truly have no ambition other than to serve Aquaman? Does he not have scores of fools who would follow him blindly?"

The villain turned to Garth who was still removing the cracked helmet from his armor.

"This fool for example." Then he fired at Garth just as he took off his helmet, Aqualad barely managing to get him out of the line of fire and finding covering behind a pillar.

"Garth, get your head in the game." said the young Atlantean. He moved back into battle using his bearers to create a shield and moved in on Black Manta. Garth decided to thin the heard to give Aqualad a better chance.

"I summon the power of the Tempest!" he called out swirling his hands and firing the spell at their foes sending them all over the place.

Aqualad engaged Black Manta but with little success as the villains experience showed. When the young Atlantean tried to strike out with his swords Manta dodged and countered. Forced back he had to block Manta's eye beams again with his bearers. It was then that he remembered something that Naruto had told him.

"All you need to do is expand your mind to the possibilities and use your imagination." Aqualad decided to take his words to heart.

And none too soon as the dome had finally melted and the cable from the sub approached the creature. He closed his eyes and channeled the magic within him difficult though it was with Black Manta still blasting away at him.

And that's when he felt it. A strange feeling not unlike when Naruto had tried to awaken a chakra network within him before. Only now that feeling was growing and growing. And just when he felt like he was going to exploded, he opened his eyes and unleashed what he was feeling on his opponent.

The blast had taken the form of an energy spear. Not what he envisioned in his head but it worked. Black Manta managed to dodge if just barely as the attack scratched at his arm severely. But it did hit the creature's ice prison. The force did not destroy it but it hit with enough force to that the cable pulling it up snapped and it dropped back into the holding chamber.

After firing the blast, Kaldur felt as if he had completely spent the energy Naruto had given him.

Some of the ice around the star fishing looking creature was shattered. Enough that one tentacle was now free.

And it was moving.

Aqualad had no time to process this as a now enraged Black Manta cried out.

"If I can't have it no one can!" at that instant a miniature rocket launcher appeared on his shoulder and fired at the creature.

"Kaldur!" called the voice of Garth as he stood in front of Aqualad and casted a shield in front of them as the missile exploded on contact. The explosion was massive and when the dust settled there were pieces of the creature still in ice all around the facility.

They looked up to see Black Manta enter the sub and leave.

It was over.

After reestablishing communications King Orrin, also known as Arthur Curry on the surface to his friends and known to the world as Aquaman, immediately returned home. His wife, Kaldur, Garth, Tula and his brother Orm met him at the Zeta-Tube.

"The city was heavily damaged." said King Orrin. "And many of our people have been injured from the attack. But it could have been much worse."

The last part of that sentence had him caressing his wife's stomach with her hand on top of his. For the life that was now growing in her womb.

"This was all that was left of the creature." said Orm presenting the small piece of tentacle that was left over from the destroyed star fish. "It has already begun to regenerate. But with the Science Center destroyed and the city in need of repairs we do not have time or the resources to study it further." He then looked to Vulko who nodded to him.

"Perhaps the surface world can do better." said Orm

"I'm sure they are eager to try." said Orrin trying to help alleviate the pain his brother was feeling. "Kaldur?" he called looking to his protégé.

Kaldur stepped forward and saluted.

"Call me Aqualad. My king." he said. Orrin smiled at hearing the resolve in his voice.

They soon left leaving Kaldur, Tula, and Garth at the Zeta-Tube.

"Kaldur." Tula began. "I-We just-"

"I wish you both nothing but the best." said Kaldur. In his voice he knew now where he was meant to be. He then keyed in his code for the Zeta-Tube to return him to Mount Justice.

Before he disappeared the young Atlantean turned to his friends.

"Have you ever wondered if I had stayed behind and you became Aqualad?" he asked Garth.

"Never." Garth said without hesitation.

"Neither have I." said Kaldur. And with that he left one home to go back to another.

(Star City. Toros Restaurant. Minutes Earlier)

Both M'gann and now the newly named Conner Kent both laughed along with Dinah as Naruto dried his eyes from the spicy Chinese food he had eaten.

"Too spicy for you Naruto?" said Dinah jokingly.

"It would seem that way yeah." he gasped taking a large sip of water to cool his tongue and throat. "Although to be fair it was also delicious. So it balances it out. A bit."

Dinah smiled at that comment.

_'Honesty. Good quality to have.'_  she thought to herself. The fun however was interrupted when she got a familiar binging in her earpiece.

"Dinah go." she said. This got everyone's attention hearing her tone.

"Batman here. Is the rest of the Team with you?" asked her colleague.

"Yeah they are here." she said trying to be discrete.

"Bring them back to the cave. I have a new mission for them." he said.

"On their way." she said turning her earpiece off. "Sorry guys. Looks like downtime is over."

"Had to end some time." said Conner putting his napkin down.

"You guys go on ahead I got the bill." said Naruto.

"You sure?" asked M'gann

"Yes now go. I will join you shortly." said the young man.

The two youngsters left as Naruto got his wallet out and asked the waiter for the check.

Dinah then noticed he had a debit card.

"You sure you got it covered?" she asked.

"Yep. I've had accounts made here with all the currency of this entire country. Thankfully though your planet has gotten to digital currency so all I need is my card." said Naruto looking at the check and handing the waiter the card. It was only a minute later when he came back with the receipt to which Naruto signed.

"This was a good idea." said Dinah. "Getting them out of the Cave for a little while. We are having them attend high school in Happy Harbor but it's not quite the same as a night out."

"Glad to be useful for something outside the team I guess." said Naruto as he finished his drink and they headed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dinah asked as they left.

"It's just well..." Naruto started rubbing the back of his head. "I've been wondering where I fit on this Team to be honest. I get being your assistant training them and what not but honestly I could do all the roles that everyone fits on my own. Have done it for two years now. I'm not sure where I fit."

"Well you remember how we have used football to help with Wally with his speed and maneuvering right" Naruto nodded. "So think of yourself the line backer to his running back. Essentially being able to cover all the positions needed but not overtaking someone else." she explained.

Naruto gave this a thought as he signed the check.

"That fits. Thanks Dinah." said Naruto.

"No problem." she said getting up. "I better see what trouble Ollie has gotten into. Good luck and be safe. To all of you."

"We will." said Naruto also getting up and watched as she walked away.

**'Smart woman that one.'** said Kurama.  **'Knows what to tell someone when they need it. Hope her boyfriend sees that too.'**

_'Yeah.'_ said Naruto as he walked out of the restaurant to join the others.

**(Mount Justice)**

It had not taken them long thanks to the Zeta-Tube to arrive back to the cave. M'gann had already shifted back to her normal form, Conner quickly changed his shirt outside in to show off his shield again and Naruto had changed into his uniform. The others were already with Batman waiting in their uniforms as well.

It was at this moment that the Zeta-Tube activated again.

"Recognized Aqualad B02" said the computer to which the young Atlantean appeared before them.

"Have you decided?" asked the Dark Knight.

"Yes. I am here. One hundred percent." said Aqualad much to the relief of the rest of the Team.

"Good." said Batman. He then addressed the holo map and told them of their next mission.

**(Black Manta's Submarine)**

Black Manta stood in his room using video monitors to confer with members of the Light. As before in his other meetings their images were covered with spectral images to hide their faces.

"I was unable to capture the creature. I was forced to use Plan B." he reported.

"You did well." said the voice of L-5. "All goes according to plan."

End Chapter

_Well this has been way too long in the making. Apologies again for the terrible long wait on this. I wish I could say I've had a reason for why these chapters don't come out sooner. Wish I could say that my job currently takes more than it gives which is partially the reason. But truth is I am being very lazy as of late and my own doubts about my abilities as a writer. Something that I hope that I can get past those issues and bring the next chapter out much sooner._

_Also since there are some fears that giving chakra to the Team would ruin the story let met try to set your minds at ease. For one thing even though Naruto flowed some of his chakra into the them most of the Team will not actually have chakra or use jutsu. In fact the only person would is most likely to use jutsu is Black Canary for reasons that this chapter hopefully has explained. Now what will happen is that the Team and their abilities will be changed or augmented. For example like the chapter pointed out the most Robin and Artemis will be able to do is maybe walk on walls or water and be able to use elemental changes in their weapons. And that is it. The rest with powers will have their powers augmented only. And this will most likely happen near the end of season one if you guys are willing to stick with my laziness._

_Once again thanks goes to qtar1984 for his superb editing. Seriously without him these later chapters would not be nearly as good as they are. I also want to thank raven18. His birthday was a couple months ago and I wished I had gotten done then. As well are the words from RoninCav._

_I hope that this chapter was worth the wait Thank you all for your support._


	16. Bereft

M'gann woke up to find herself looking at a sky that was not red. It was night with a full moon. As she sat up she grabbed some of the sand. It was soft compared to what she knew from Mars. It then hit her.

"Hello Megan! I'm on Earth!" she exclaimed with excitement.

_'But if I'm on Earth how did I get here? And why am I in this costume?'_ she thought to herself walking across the desert.  _'And why does my head hurt so much?'_

With her distracted the young Martian wasn't paying attention and slipped on one of the hills of sand and landed on her butt. Before she could get herself situated she was stunned by the impact of something crashing right next to her.

When the dust cleared there stood a tall very angry looking young boy in jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt with a very familiar symbol on it.

"Wait. I know that symbol." she said "Are you Superman?"

This comment seemed to set him off as he ripped the shirt off him leaving him bare-chested and charged at M'gann. Before he even got to her he was suddenly hit by a green energy blast that knocked him away.

At that same time a lone figure stood in front of her. He was wearing a green and black armored uniform of unique design and from the back of him she saw short blond hair on his head.

"Superboy it's us!" her rescuer called out as the mad boy charged again. Only the other man stopped his charged though he skidded on the sand briefly before throwing him aside. The angry young man seemed to think twice about attacking again and decided to jump away.

"Conner!" the blond young man called out. "Damn it." he said finally turning around. He was wearing a face mask that covered the lower part of his face. On his chest was a black circle with the white outline of another symbol she knew.

"M'gann, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, Green Lantern, I am." she said. "Do we know each other?" she asked.

The young man sighed.

"Great. All I got was a headache while the rest of you have lost you memories." he said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. You and I are part of team of young heroes and have been here for the last six months." said Naruto.

"Six months?" M'gann questioned. "So then why can't I remember?"

"I will explain it to you on the way. Right now one of our friends and our leader, an Atlantean named code named Aqualad, is in need of our help right now." said Naruto. "It's already been close twenty-four hours since we got here and that's not good for him in this desert. Can you find him telepathically?"

Even though she did not remember who this person was she still felt compelled to trust him. She didn't know why. Maybe how earnest and concerned he seemed to be or how honest his panic over his friend was but she nodded.

"I can try." she said. Holding her hands to her head she concentrated. "He's not far, only a few meters west from our location."

"Let's go." he said. The two flew in the direction that M'gann has said he would be. Sure enough there he was unconscious. As they landed Naruto knew it was from dehydration on a large scale.

"He kept thinking in a different language but I was able to make sense of it. He keeps mentioning a name. Tula I think he said." M'gann explained as the shinobi examined him. "Is that his girlfriend?"

"Afraid not. Worse he probably doesn't even remember that right now." said Naruto as he made some hand signs and pressed his hands into the sand. M'gann watched in amazement as symbols appeared on the ground and suddenly a small pond of water appeared on the sand.

"Thank you Tenten for telling me that story." he said to himself. Though to his credit, he did achieve more proficiency with summons than she did thanks to the fact that he was an Uzumaki.

"How did you do that?" she asked as Naruto carried Aqualad closer to the small pond, gathered some of the water in his hand and had him drink it.

"Summoning Jutsu, normally I summon creatures but I can also summon other things such as weapons or even a bit of water in the desert thanks to a mention from talking with an old friend. And that's all you need to know until we get the others and get your memories back." he explained while feeding Aqualad water.

Not long after the Atlantean had regained consciousness. He looked around and Naruto could see that he did not recognize either of them and quickly rose to his feet but was wobbly and fell to one knee.

"Easy Kaldur, you just now woke up and your body is still hasn't fully recovered from its bout with dehydration." Naruto explained.

"Who are you?" he questioned them. "How do you know my name?"

"My name is Naruto. She's M'gann. Also known as Green Lantern and Miss Martian." said Naruto with M'gann who waved in response.

"That does not answer my question." said Aqualad.

"We've been part of a team consisting of you, me, M'gann, Wally and Dick, names you are no doubt still familiar with and with Conner also known as Superboy."

When he said this Naruto knew that he recognized the names of two of his closest names but was confused upon hearing of a Superboy.

"He's a clone of Superman." said Naruto. "You will understand once you get your memories back."

"He's telling the truth." said M'gann suddenly. Naruto looked and saw her floating in a meditative stance her eyes white.

"I was able to remember something. He's telling the truth. I saw myself making and giving cookies to the team. You both were there." she explained.

"That was a while ago. And they were delicious by the way." he mentioned which gave M'gann a small smile despite the situation.

"Pardon me for saying so but while I am familiar with Martian telepathy I can't just take it at face value." said Aqualad.

"Then take the fact that two of your closest friends are now in danger along with the rest of us. To make a long story short M'gann had us linked telepathically during our mission here. The reason you all have lost your memories of the last six months is because unknown to all of us there was another telepath here and he hacked our link." said Naruto.

"How come you didn't lose yours then?" said M'gann curious.

"I had some help in that regard." said Naruto looking a little uncomfortable.

**'Help being me able to block telepathic attacks and probes. Thanks to our mental blocks and my presence in your head not even the Guardians have managed to get in. Which is good for you but not so good for the rest of them.'**  said Kurama.

_'Thanks for reminding me furball but that doesn't help them now.'_  said Naruto to his partner.  _'I can't believe I didn't stop it in time though before the attack I feel like an idiot.'_

**'Hey no one knew they had a telepath. You're not all seeing Naruto.'** said Kurama.

_'Thanks buddy.'_ said Naruto.

**'Speaking of which, would you tell M'gann to try and stop probing and get them back on your side.'**  his partner mentioned. Naruto returned his attention to the situation at hand.

"Stop probing M'gann its rude and with me useless." he said.

"Sorry." she said have the decency to look foolish at her attempt.

"The idea was mine." said Aqualad. "If what you say is true than you alone possess our memories. Miss Martian mentioned that by using you as the landscape for us we could recover them."

"Not a bad idea. Except you need my permission to get into my mind." he said sternly before calming down. "In any event getting your memories back with just me isn't going to work. We need to find as many of rest of the team as possible before trying that."

"Agreed." said Aqualad. "Miss Martian can you try and get a fix on the others?"

"I can try." she said closing her eyes and concentrating. "I've got two of them. They are going south east." she said pointing the direction. Naruto noticed just now that the sun had now risen above them.

"Good we've wasted enough time as is. Aqualad are you alright for travel?"

"Yes. The water you managed to produce has restored me somewhat. I am not at full strength, but I am able to fight if need be." he said.

"It will do. I'm going to put you into a bubble construct. It will be faster to get to the others if we fly to them." Naruto explained. He immediately put the Atlantean inside a bubble construct and from there they flew off.

It did not take them long to find the two that M'gann had mentioned. Even from a distance Naruto could see the smoke trail left by Kid Flash. He assumed that he was holding Artemis in his arms while running from the attack fighter craft trying to shoot them down.

"Are they piloted or are they drones?" Naruto asked.

"Drones, I'm not picking up any thoughts." she responded.

"Good. Let's take them out." said the shinobi. "Aqualad see if you can't give them some cover with you bearers."

"Understood." said Aqualad.

**'Not bad kid. Taking command of the situation like that.'**  said Kurama.

_'Shut it furball.'_  Naruto grumbled as he and Miss Martian flew in unison as he dropped Aqualad with the speedster and archer. The two drones made another pass firing machine guns at them. Aqualad had managed to block the attack using his water bearers as shields. After they made their pass it was time to counter.

The task was simple as all Naruto had to do was fire a beam of energy right at his drone immediately destroying it while M'gann used her telekinesis to send the other crashing into the ground.

The two of them landed and join the others. Kid Flash seemed to be in the process of introducing, or reintroducing as it were, his friend to Artemis.

"So who are they?" she asked.

"I'm M'gann and this is Naruto. We're all part of a team." said M'gann. "I made you all cookies if that helps."

"Afraid it doesn't." said Artemis.

"How else do you explain that we are all here together and it's been six months since your last memory of anything?" Naruto questioned.

"He's got a point." said Kid Flash. "So I'm guessing that M'gann is related to J'onn and you are a rookie Green Lantern or something?"

"Look we will fill you guys in on the way. We need to find Robin and Superboy." said Naruto.

"Sure find Robin and Super-what now?" Kid Flash questioned.

"Hold on. You both have your memories why don't we have ours?" Artemis questioned.

"I only have bits and pieces. Naruto seems to be the only one that has his memories intact." The young Martian briefly explained.

"And how is that possible?" Aqualad questioned.

"I have some defense against telepathic attacks. And I have an idea to get you guys your memories returned but we need to find Robin and Superboy first. Or at least one of them for it to work." said Naruto.

The rest silently agreed as they traversed the desert.

**(Elsewhere)**

Psimon watched as the soldiers of Queen Bee were trying to restrain the Superboy.

_'Though perhaps trying would imply a degree of success._ ' he thought to himself as the young man through a bunch of soldiers around like rag dolls. They had managed to tie his wrists with rope with soldiers grouped on both his left and right sides trying to hold him like a wild bull.

As the troops went flying one of the sergeants went to his side.

"You must take control of his mind!" he demanded.

"Not much of a mind left to control after I was through with it." said the psychic as he raised his hand forward towards the boy as he sent the other group of men flying as was about to jump to freedom.

"Still there is just enough." he said as he sent a telepathic command.

_'Psimon says, 'be still'.'_

An instant later the Superboy did just stand still. Moments later he fell unconscious as he shut down.

"Get him to the tent with the Sphere and examine him. Assuming you are capable of that now." he ordered the men. The sergeant did so and issued the orders.

As they did so Psimon pondered the events. He had heard from the Light about this new covert team and the fact that the energy omissions that were produced from when the mysterious Sphere arrived would gain the attention of the League and that they would send them to the Bialyan desert.

It did not take long for the Martian in their group to come skulking around. And being the novice she was had set up a mind link with her teammates for communication purposes.

Though she had potential, he could sense that easily enough, she was still unrefined and foolish to not set up a defense. It was almost child's play to make her and the rest of them forget about what they may have seen via the link along with about six months worth of time for good measure.

_'All but one.'_  he thought to himself with a frown as he recounted that there had been one person among this team of young 'heroes' that he could not penetrate. Indeed up till now the only one that he had thought that his telepathic abilities could not touch was the Martian Manhunter. But this one among them had mental barriers that rivaled even his.

_'Psimon wonders which one it could be?'_  he thought to himself. The younger Martian he suspected had the potential but was still to unrefined so it could not be her.

So who could it be?

The psychic villain put these questions aside. For now he joined the rest of the troops and returned to the tent which now held two prizes, the sphere and the Superboy. He would assign extra security but was pleased.

And so would the Light.

**(Teams mobile base)**

It was night time when Robin arrived at the rendezvous point that his GPS map was telling him to go. Sure enough it lead him to an apparatus. He jumped in to check it out only for soldiers of Bialya to pop up from under the sand.

The lead soldier was giving the others orders. Though his Bialyan was limited he got the feeling that Queen Bee, the leader of Bialya in fact, would want him alive for interrogation.

So naturally he dropped a smoke bomb which thanks to the sand was even more effective than normal. And proceeded to beat down, tie up and disarm them of their weapons with batarangs. Unfortunately, those he knocked to the ground got back up and started firing at him.

Robin was able to flip out of harm's way but before he could respond back he saw a familiar blur take the guns out his enemies' hands. Turning around he saw another of his old friends use his water bearer's as a shield from enemy fire and took them down with a one two punch. Finally he saw another four being launched in the air. He looked to see someone who looked like Martian Manhunter seemingly de-cloak in front of him.

Nothing however prepared him for seeing a Green Lantern of all things take down the rest of the stranglers and wrapping them in a rope construct tying them all up in a circle. He looked up to see said Green Lantern only to find it was someone that he was not familiar with.

Looking around he saw two familiar faces among this group of strangers.

"Kid Flash, Aqualad!" he said greeting them. "Glad to see two familiar faces."

"No kidding. Though some new faces are looking rather attractive." said Kid Flash in a quieter voice while gesturing to Artemis.

"Still the flirt I see." said Robin.

"I assume then that you are also suffering from memory loss as well?" asked Aqualad.

"Six months missing to be exact!" the boy wonder exclaimed. "Let's get these goons further tied up before our Green Lantern's construct disappears then compare our notes."

"My constructs don't disappear Robin but it would be nice to have some rope placed on them before we leave." said Naruto. He went to the apparatus and activated it. It was filled with supplies for the Team after all and among them he found a Kevlar made roped and tied them up.

With that out of the way they grouped up to get the full gist of the situation.

"So we're all a team?" asked Robin first.

"The six of us plus Superboy." said Miss Martian.

"Than this is probably his." said Robin taking out a piece of Superboy's shirt that he found on the ground earlier.

"Yes! Have you seen him?" she asked.

**'Memory gone and she still has an almost instant attraction to the boy.'** said Kurama in Naruto's head.

_'Good sign that she still has something from the missing six months.'_ responded Naruto in his head.

"I think we did before you and the Lantern showed up." said Artemis

"Feral boy?" said Kid Flash remembering his encounter with a snarling teenager who was strong enough to rip tanks apart and whose first target was him and Artemis.

"Some team mate he attacked us." he commented.

"He didn't know who we are. I don't know who we are." she the archer.

"All I remember is Batman ordering for radio silence. We must work for him." Robin deduced.

"Wait how do we know that we don't work for my mentor?" he asked pointing at his symbol. Upon doing so his suit returned from its black shade to its yellow.

"Whoa." he said doing it again and activating the stealth-tech again. "Can you guy's suits do that?"

"Only Aqualad's. You and him are the only ones with stealth-tech in their suits." said Naruto. Aqualad pushed on the symbol in the middle of his belt and sure enough the red in his suit turned black. Naruto decided to add on by using the ring to cloak himself to everyone's surprise.

"How did you do that?" said the speedster as Naruto reappeared.

"A technique that only a few Green Lanterns can use. Basically I can use my ring to bend the light around me and make me invisible." the shinobi explained.

"That's handy." said Robin.

" Just one of the many ways I can make myself stealthy being a ninja and all." said Naruto "And to answer your earlier question no we do work for Batman." Naruto stated.

"And you know that how?" asked Kid Flash

.

"He's the only one of us that still has his memories." said M'gann

"It makes the most sense since he would have more experience than most on doing more stealth related missions." said Aqualad. "I would assume that we are on such a mission since Bialya is a rogue state under the rule of Queen Bee."

"Which we would know if we had our memories which we don't! We need them back!" said Artemis in frustration.

"Naruto you are the only one here whose mind is intact. Can you tell us what happened?" asked Aqualad.

Before he could answer Artemis again spoke up.

"We need all our memories of the last six months back!"

"There is one other way." said M'gann. "I could use my psychic powers for us to enter mine or Naruto's mind scape and be able to piece together our broken memories into a whole one." said M'gann before looking to Naruto with some sympathy.

"But let me guess since my mind is the only know not Swiss cheesed at the moment that makes my mind the best place to do this right?" Naruto questioned though he already knew the answer.

"Yes. But I can't access yours. Your mind is too well guarded. So much so that you might even have better barriers than my Uncle J'onn." she said.

**'Great. You realize if we take down our barriers I won't be able to hide myself once she gets in right. That was the point of us making these barriers in the first place.'** said Kurama.

_'I know that.'_ Naruto responded.

"So what you're a telepath as well than?" Kid Flash guessed.

"No but I have my ways for protecting my mind from people trying to fidget with it." said Naruto.

"Lantern I understand that you wish to keep your thoughts private but time is of the essence. If you can help us recover what we have lost we need your help in this."

Naruto thought about this long and hard. It had only been six months when he got here and while in that time he had come to trust his new friends. With them possibly learning chakra and even his life if need be.

But could he trust them to with the secret as to why he was sent here? Or at the very least the existance of Kurama who had become his most trusted ally?

_'Kurama what do you think we should do?'_ he asked his partner.  _'This isn't just my decision its yours as well.'_

**'I think you should look to the Martian and you will see the decision we both would have already made.'**  said the tailed beast. Naruto looked at M'gann and saw the desperation in her eyes.

"Please to help Superboy." she pleaded.

In that moment Naruto had made his decision. He closed his eyes as he and Kurama shut the barriers of his mind down.

"Alright M'gann. Do it." he said.

Instantly the young martian put her hands to her head. Immediately following that action the rest of the team found themselves of a field of grass that seemed to stretch out forever.

"Whoa nice place." said Robin

"Indeed it is rather beautiful." said Kaldur. M'gann herself looked around with her hood over her head.

"I've only ever seen those of my race able to make mindscapes as advanced as what I am seeing here. This place is designed for a peaceful retreat for someone. Almost like the mind itself is essentially at peace." said Miss Martian.

"Yeah but I'm guessing the sky would be another story." said Artemis point above them. Sure enough they looked to the sky and saw what they all guessed was their memories as they saw images of them talking, going into battle, working together in one fashion or another. But they looked like pieces of broken glass.

" **Well I have to say the sky in here has looked better."** said a thundering voice from behind them.

They all turned to see Naruto there but he wasn't alone. Next to him was a what appeared to be a giant sized fox with human like hands instead of paws and had nine flowing tails instead of just one.

"Welcome to my head guys." said the lantern.

"Naruto who or what is that behind you?" said M'gann more than a little intimidated and the being in front of him.

" **I'm standing right here little girl don't be insulting you are our guests here after all."** said the being.

"Sorry! I wasn't trying to be rude." she said bowing her head.

"Kurama there's no need to be scaring anybody here." said Naruto.

" **What I'm just having a little fun that's all. I don't usually meet other people in here kid."** said Kurama.

"Pardon the interruption but would you please explain who or what you are?" said Aqualad gesturing towards the tailed beast.

"Ah yes introductions. This my friend and partner Kurama. Also know on my world as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The nine-tailed beast." said Naruto gesturing to his giant friend.

" **Kinda obvious with the fact that I have nine tails."** he joked.  **"Hello everyone. Me and Naruto always suspected that this would be coming. Though under different circumstances."**

"Yeah kinda a first to be meeting an actual demon in someone's head." said Artemis.

" **Beast!"** both Naruto and Kurama said at the same. "Seriously beast not demon. Unless its by the enemies than we are okay with that." Naruto continued.

"Right sorry. Didn't know better." said Artemis genuinely scared of the beast that spoke so loudly along with Naruto.

" **You can breath now girl we are good."** said Kurama in his best comforting tone.

"Not to be a bit of a drag with the giant tailed beast here but shouldn't we get back to the matter of of getting our memories back?" questioned the boy wonder looking up into the sky.

"Right we are getting off topic aren't we?" said Naruto. He then looked to M'gann who had her hood up. " If you would."

"Right." said M'gann. "Right now the sky represents our collected memories. At the moment they are in pieces. But if you let me enter your minds and with Naruto forming as the base we can make our pieces into a whole."

"Whoa so you are gonna mess with our heads?" said Artemis worried about what secrets she may be hiding.

" **Myself and Naruto will ensure that only the last six months have been tampered with in terms of your memories. That will be all she will be looking for."** said Kurama.

"How can you sure of that?" asked Kaldur.

"Here in my head me and my big furry friend here have pretty much domain. Trust me we have been doing this for a while hence why M'gann and pretty much any telepath will have no shortage of trouble getting in my mind never mind Kurama's." said Naruto.

Even hearing all this the shinobi could see that Artemis was still nervous. Whatever she was hiding he knew it had something to do with his past. A past that she did not want to be revealed unless it was on her terms.

She then calmed when Kid Flash took her hand and smiled reassuringly at her to which she returned.

"Last six months only no more or less." said Artemis.

"Agreed." said Robin to which Aqualad nodded in consent as well.

"And as you enter my mind don't let its brilliance overwhelm you." said Kid Flash.

"Or underwhelm you." Robin joked back. "Though seriously why aren't people just whelmed?"

"Okay here we go." said M'gann as she concentrated. A beam on energy soon emerged from her head and connected it to Naruto's. From there it was sent to the other four.

Instantly their memories started coming back to them in flood of information. Though it flowed like a river as each piece of their memories returned.

Cadmus, meeting Superboy, fighting their way out and defeating Blockbuster formerly Mark Desmond, them becoming a team, meeting Naruto, their first mission, Black Canary and Naruto meeting and training them, the shinobi revealing their potential for using chakra, then bringing in talking toads who on then visited occasionally to help with said training with Wally's head being the blunt of Fukasaku's stick.

Finally the memories poured on their mission here in Bialya. Batman explaining to them that the watchtower had found readings of a major power surge in the Biayan desert and that the readings were extraterrestrial in origin.

The memories shifted to them landing at the border of Bialya setting up base camp. Robin, using the computer from the apparatus located the source of the energy in a tent twenty miles out. M'gann using her cloaking ability went inside the tent.

She saw a sphere inside a cage with scientist appearing to experiment on it getting readings each time it rolled trying to escape.

" _Its some sort of device."_ said the memory of M'gann.  _"But its alive. Hello? Can you hear me?"_

" _I can."_ said a voice in the link that was not a member of the Team.

" _Someone has hacked our link!"_ said M'gann as she panicked. This had never happened before.

" _Miss Martian break the link!"_ ordered Aqualad. Before she could the voice in their minds spoke again.

" _Psimon can't see you. Psimon can't find you. But Psimon can make sure you all...Forget!"_ said the voice. M'gann then saw a man remove his hood where she could see his was pale and his head was transparent enough to see his brain.

Then it all went white as she and the rest of them felt a searing pain as their minds were erased. All except Naruto who in his head had Kurama break the link on their own. From there they all scatter to the winds before the lantern could stop them.

As they opened their minds they found themselves back in the desert. Kid Flash and Artemis looked at their hands clasped together. They broke apart immediately.

"So much for that." said Naruto.

"It was fortunate that you had the assistance of this being Naruto." said Aqualad. "But it would have been informative if you had told us that you had such an ally."

"Without revealing anything else today." Naruto began. "Me and Kurama have had issues with people before on this subject. It wasn't always as rosy between us as it is now believe me. On top of which thanks to the fact that he is inside me I have gotten some benefits. And those I will disclose at my own time if you don't mind."

"Stop this please!" said M'gann. "We have to find Superboy! Six months ago he didn't even exist he had no memories. Just animal impulses!"

"Superboy's indestructible. He tore those tanks that attacked me and Artemis." said Kid Flash.

Before anymore could be said M'gann held her head and clenched in pain. She felt Superboy being tortured.

"No! Superboy is in pain!" she exclaimed and flew off.

"M'gann wait! Psimon is still there!" yelled Robin. "He took your memories once he could do it again!"

"She's long gone." said Wally. It was then that they noticed that Aqualad wasn't looking at his best.

"Kaldur you don't look so good." said Artemis. "You need to go back to the ship."

"Agreed." he said panting. "Green Lantern. You are the only one we have seen able to withstand Psimon's powers. Go and back up Miss Martian."

"Roger. The rest of you get him back to the bio ship best possible speed. The water I gave should hold Aqualad up and give you enough time to get him there." said Naruto. Immediately following that statement he cloaked himself and flew off after Miss Martian.

Miss Martian found the tent easily enough. Saw the sphere and the still amnesiac and bare-chested Conner being held prisoner.

"My you are a glutton for punishment." said the voice that she immediately recognized as Psimon. The villain then revealed himself from his hood.

" _Forget."_ he said telepathically. This time though the young martian was ready. The both enter her mindscape. The area of her mind was rather roughly constructed with pieces of the cave and farmland made as the place for her mind.

She soon saw the all encompassing light that represented Psimon's attempt to erase her memories once again. She stood her ground and repulsed the attack.

"Not again!" she yelled. She then saw a giant version of her enemy's head appear and fire a beam of red black mental energy at her. She struggled as she put a shield to block it.

" _Hmm. Better prepared this time. No doubt expecting me thanks to the one among you who resisted me. No matter. You have potential but still untrained, unrefined."_ he broke off mid sentence managing to break her shield and knocking her away. The head open its mouth and the full body version of Psimon appeared.

" _And not in my league."_

Megan responded by firing her own beam at him.

Meanwhile back in the real world the scientists in the tent looked about in puzzlement as their associate just stood there with a smile on his face. The psychic backlash from Psimon and his invisible opponent had started making objects float. It was at this time that the bonds that held the Sphere weakened and it broke free wheeling around the tent scaring the scientists away while also freeing the Superboy.

Just in time for Naruto to appear. The Sphere moved towards him.

"Whoa hey I'm on your side here." he said to the machine. It stopped almost as if it recognized him for some reason.

Superboy in his animal like fury attacked Psimon who had a psychic shield on his body while still fighting Miss Martian. It was then that Naruto saw the clone of Superman stop moving and with a trained eye noticed the shimmering form of M'gann.

**'Okay we need to get in there. Now.'** said Kurama. Naruto didn't argue and immediately went opposite of where Connor was, on M'gann's left side, and touched her arm.

Back in M'gann's mindscape she was battling Psimon when Connor appeared next to her.

"You're here." she said with excitement.

"Please. You think that mindless creature can help you save your mind." said the villain. All M'gan did was smile as she grabbed both sides of his face in her hands.

"No I save his." she said touching their foreheads together. It was then that Conner felt memories, all of them, for what felt like the first time.

Him meeting the team, escaping Cadmus, the rejection of Superman twice, fighting Amazo, the Teams first mission, training with Naruto and Black Canary. All of it came rushing back.

But what M'gann was doing, to her knowledge he didn't know, was providing a glance into her memories. One thing she saw was an alien not like any he had seen which was large, white skinned, and could be considered by some to be monstrous. Yet when he saw that image flash by he felt no fear or anger. Like he knew her somehow.

_'Her? M'gann?'_ he questioned in his mind as the images flashed until he saw the memory that she favored the most.

The moment she was cooking and had accidentally thrown food at him with her telekinesis. Right before Naruto

"I am so sorry. It was too much at once too much at once. Too much..." she said as she wiped him down before looking into his eyes and they stared at each other for what seemed like hours.

It was that he returned to see M'gann. Here and now.

Conner smiled at her.

"Kick his butt." he said.

"Yes please kick my psychic butt." said Psimon with supreme confidence. It was then that the mindscape suddenly changed from being a tangle of places that M'gann had been or what to go to a dark void it seemed with water being the ground. Almost like a sewer but with no foul smell.

"She won't have to." said a voice. Floating in between them was Naruto. "Sorry to interrupt but if you guys don't mind I decided to enter this little fight to even up the odds."

"You!" said Psimon. "You're the one who I couldn't sense before. Who managed to block out my attack on the rest of these children."

"Correct. And now you are in my mindscape." said Naruto.

"Then you have made a grave mistake." said the villain with grin. "For I will now destroy you and then the martian."

"Oh it isn't me you gotta worry about. Its him." said Naruto gesturing behind Psimon. He turned to see Kurama in all his glory standing before him.

Psimon gawked at the being in front of him.

" **He doesn't look so tough."** said the tailed beast.

"Size isn't everything remember." said Naruto reminding of him when the two of them fought each other at one point.

" **True but I doubt he has your gumption. Do you little man?"** said Kurama.

"I don't know what projection you are but you will find that Psimon is more than a match for you!" the telepath exclaimed and fired a beam of energy at the creature. All it seemed to do was annoy him.

" **Really? That's the best you got?"** said Kurama and with a wave of his hand a gust of wind sent the supervillain spinning out onto the water below. Psimon got up and made himself giant size to try and match the creature before him.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Miss Martian asked.

"Nah. The furball doesn't get much exercise and this is a good way for him to let off some steam." said Naruto as they watched the fight with the two giants fighting.

Or rather Kurama beating the snot out of Psimon as he tried to punch or used more psychic attacks that the beast just shrugged of and either clawed, punched or used his tails as weapon as he whipped one at sending him tumbling down once again shrinking Psimon back to normal size. Kurama issued another wave of power that the bloody psychic barely had time to shield against. He barely managed to handle it before it being shattered as Kurama grabbed a hold of him and force to look him in the eye.

" **Is this the best you can do? I have been mind controlled on mine and Naruto's home world by a being who while I hated had far more skill and power than you. I have blocked out beings whose telepathic prowess are enough to shape planets. Compared to them you are nothing but a termite to be stepped on."** said Kurama as he dropped Psimon opened his mouth and channeled his chakra in what Naruto knew to be the Tailed Beast Ball. But suddenly the beast stopped channeling and smile as if having an idea.

" **M'gann is it?"** he asked though already knowing the answer.

"Um yes that is me." said the young martian.

" **Would you like to the honor of sending this rat out of here?"** he asked. M'gann smiled at this.

"With pleasure." she said. "Get out of our head!"

She fired a pulse of psychic energy strong enough to cause Psimon to scream in pain as he held his head. All of them then appeared back in the real world just in time to see him fly off out of the tent. His departure forcing the tent open and having it fold out leaving all three of them out in the open desert.

"Psimon going going gone!" Naruto joked. "How are you feeling Conner?"

"Back to normal." said the clone looking at M'gann. And her staring back at him.

"Ahem." said Naruto noticing how they were looking each other as if he weren't there. "We'd better get back to the bioship." said Naruto..

"Yes yes we should." said M'gann blushing. It was then that the sphere also appeared next to them.

"Looks like we got the souvenir for Kid Flash." said M'gann. The sphere made beeping noises in response. Naruto then created a bubble construct and flew them back to the ship. From there they stored the alien object, who had more than once apparently proved it was sentient, into the cargo bay. From there they took their seats and M'gann took her post at the helm and the flew off home.

"So I guess this the part where address the elephant in the room. Or more specifically the tailed beast inside me." said Naruto.

The others looked to each other about this.

"Honestly given the fact that it was because of your friend and the mental blocks you both made on your minds that saved us today.." said Kid Flash.

"The only issue is why didn't you tell us sooner." said Robin.

"I was going to tell you. We were going to tell you about Kurama. Me and him have been talking and we thought if it wasn't going to happen now then in the next day or so." said Naruto. "Honestly, and this is no disrespect towards you, but the main reason I hadn't said anything was because of you Robin."

"And how do you figure that?" said Robin getting a little ticked off about the comment.

"Because I figured you were keeping an eye on me on orders from Batman. Since he and I don't exactly get along all that well and since he has a habit to find out the weaknesses of not just our enemies but his allies as well I assumed that he might have inquired to you about me since I arrived." he explained.

Everyone looked to Robin.

"Is there any truth to what he speaks of?" asked Aqualad.

The boy wonder rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"I'll admit there have been a couple of times when he has asked about the team. How we have been doing, adjusting to the training and all that. And he has asked about you. At first I thought it was just general stuff. But I found out quickly that he was subtlety asking me about your powers and abilities. And he was asking about how he was helping train us." Robin explained.

"And what exactly did you say to him?" said Naruto.

"Nothing that gave you away if that's what you mean." said Robin. "Look the guy is like my father. But even I can see sometimes how he can be more paranoid then he needs to be. So after the first mission, which thanks to you Naruto didn't go as badly as it might have, I decided to keep my own counsel about you. So no I haven't told him anything he probably doesn't already know."

"Alright I get it." said Naruto.

"Naruto despite what you may believe whatever issues or abilities we have or will gain we do not inform our mentors about our personal lives." said Aqualad.

"Yeah dude we keep our secrets and we are prepared to keep yours too. Besides like I said without you and your friend we probably would be worse off then we are now." said Kid Flash.

"You would have found your way without me around." said Naruto.

"But not nearly as fast. I could still be a wild animal and Kaldur would have been dying of dehydration before we got our memories back." said Connor. "Point is we don't tell the League everything about us. Our problems our ours to solve."

Everyone looked at the boy of steel in amazement.

"I had a conversation with Red Tornado. He mentioned that aside from mission related stuff he believes the team can handle its own personal issues." said Connor.

**'Good thing he's the den mother then.'** said Kurama.  **'I believe you have something else to say kid?'**

Naruto took a deep breath. "You're right all of you guys are." he said.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. But just be aware that there will be secrets. Elements of surprise both from outside the team and within. Personal and otherwise. Some we are ready to deal with and some we are not. In the future I will do better with my own and determine which is which." the young shinobi concluded.

"That's we can ask." said M'gann with a smile. The others were satisfied as well.

"That's part of the job. All of what you said." said Robin.

"There is one last thing I gotta ask." said Artemis. "Does Kurama being inside you have anything to do with why you were sent here to Earth instead of patrolling your own sector?"

"In a word yes." said Naruto. "Aside from my being able to block telepathy I have certain other abilities, abilities that I have not shown yet."

"Like the time when you fought Amazo on you own when helping the League." said Robin

"That was more me then Kurama. But yes in a sense. My ring and my chakra have a symbiotic link to each other. My constructs are stronger and vice versa all my jutsu and powers get enhanced as well. And that's as far as I will say on the matter for now the rest you will just have to wait and see." he said with a smile under his mask.

"But that just wants us to know more!" Kid Flash exclaimed curiosity now fired up to which Naruto just shrugged.

"That's all you getting Wally." said Artemis. The others laughed as they made the journey home.

**(Unknown location)**

Psimon was in a room with the monitors that contained each member of the Light who were of course hidden with visual software. Although his body was still in good shape his mind was still reeling from the beat down he had suffered.

"The young "heroes" managed to take the sphere and the Superboy." he said with disappointment.

"It is is of no consequence." said the voice of L-3. "What matters is that our ally and the delivery system function is at full efficiency."

Her monitor then switched over to view the sphere arriving via a portal that appeared in the desert.

"More tech will come. And it will be far more valuable then even the sphere or the Superboy." L-3 said with a pleased tone. Psimon however appeared concerned. But as he tried all he could remember in his minds eye was a giant slit eye staring at him with disdain.

"Is there something else?" said the voice of L-3.

"Yes. I believe there is more to this team's Green Lantern. But I am unable to determine what that is. All I can say is that he was able to block my telepathy. And that is all I can remember." he said frowning from the pain that his mind was still in after the encounter. Why could he not remember.

"That is indeed troubling." said the voice of L-3.

"If I may suggest upon the Light that perhaps we should have our 'cats paw' find out more." said Psimon.

"If you feel it necessary than we shall." said L-3.

**End Chapter.**

_So after another long wait here it is. The latest chapter of Light and Shadow. I am truly sorry that its taking me so long to get these chapter done. I don't like making you all wait as I should since this thing had been up so long and so little progress has been made. But life lately has been getting in the way of just about everything that I actually want to do._

_Such is life I guess._

_In any case thanks again to my beta qtar1984. Also I am in the process of getting another beta. He and I have already discussed this and we both feel that another pair of eyes would help this story along. I am also finally getting to the process of editing the revisions of the previous chapters so that it falls into current canon of the manga so if you see any changes in the previous chapters that would be the reason._

_As always hope to see you all again in the next chapter and thank you for your support._


	17. The Real Target?

**(Mount Justice)**

Kaldur moved to block with his baton construct only to have it shatter and turn back into water and not seeing Naruto kicking him in the stomach for his trouble.

As he caught his breath he looked to see his opponent's constructs surrounded by a blue aura.

"Remember that you're opponent is not going to play fair." said Dinah as she watched him and Naruto spar.

"And be aware of where he attacks." said Fukasaku. He had been summoned multiple times now along with Shima to help train the team. Today though, he brought some younger toads to watch this sparring match with Naruto.

Kaldur nodded and made his baton constructs again. Since there was no new missions both he and Naruto decided on an early training session between the two of them with. Naruto told Dinah and she agreed to supervise their session with Kaldur in his uniform while Naruto was in his civilian attire.

Naruto stopped flowing chakra into his ring thus the baton constructs stopped glowing blue. The two began to clash once again, the sound of their batons smashing against each other filling the hall. Clashing and dodging with Kaldur struggling but managing to keep up.

That is until Naruto blocked one of Kaldur's attacks and struck him in the face faster than he was anticipating.

"Changing up your speed gives you an advantage. Makes it difficult for your opponent to dodge or block an attack." Naruto instructed.

"Yes I can see that." said Kaldur rubbing his face. "Who taught you how to fight like this?"

"Laira-Sensei, one of the instructors on Oa, she gave me weapons training with my constructs." Naruto explained.

"And everything else?" this question came from Dinah. Since their sparing match she had been more than a little curious about where he had learned how to fight the way that he did.

"Here and there." said Naruto being evasive while at the same time winking at Fukasaku who nodded in response.

"You know Naruto sooner or later you're going to tell us more about yourself and your training." said Kaldur.

"One day yes." said Naruto. He then blitzed towards the Atlantean with his opponent unable to defend before being disarmed handily by Naruto kneeling down and striking the team leader's left leg, sending him to the floor, and ending the match.

"But not today." said Naruto holding up his hand to which Kaldur took after he stopped seeing stars.

"Or ever it would seem." said the old toad.

"Indeed." said the Atlantean shaking his head as Naruto helped him up.

"Pretty good moves as usual Naruto." said Dinah.

"A fine display indeed Naruto-Boy." said Fukasaku. "Though I might have suggested hitting him on the head. Might have finished the fight sooner."

"But he wouldn't have learned anything with a concussion. Some of these guys aren't as sturdy as me old toad." said Naruto. "No offense Kaldur."

"None taken." said Kaldur.

"Eh. As good a reason as any." said Fukasaku. He then turned to his young charges.

"I hope you observed well today young ones. The lesson to take from today is always be unpredictable. Never let the enemy know what you are up to."

"Yes Honored Elder!" they all said.

"Now I think it best we be on our way. Good day to you all until next time." said the old sage. From there he and the young toads disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I'm not sure I will ever get used to that." said Dinah.

"The talking toads or the fact that in a puff a smoke they transport themselves to another realm?" asked Kaldur.

"Both." she said honestly. "Though I have to admit Fukasaku being here has helped with training Wally with that stick of his."

"It has." said Naruto thinking on how Wally was getting the hang of juking with Fukasaku always whacking him upside the head every time he did something incorrectly.

"In any case," said Naruto getting back on subject "If you think I'm good you should meet my friend Lee some day. I kid you not; he is among the best Taijutsu masters of my planet. I've gotten better but in a pure Taijutsu match he could even beat me." Naruto said.

That thought put both Dinah and Kaldur on edge. Suddenly Kaldur put a hand to his earpiece.

"Aqualad." he said out loud to get the others attention and immediately set up a computer panel. Pressing a button he put whoever it was so he was transmitting throughout the cave.

_"_ _Red Arrow,"_  the person said.

"Roy?" said Dinah.

_"_ _Hi Dinah,"_  said the archer sounding a little embarrassed that she was there.  _"Kaldur I need access to Justice League's database, specifically the exact height of the League of Shadows assassin known as Cheshire._

"Checking." said Aqualad accessing the holo-computer. With a few keystrokes he had Cheshire's profile on the screen. "Cheshire is one point-six meters."

_"_ _Um..."_ said the archer not understanding that form of information.

"She is five point six inches not to mention extremely dangerous." said Dinah intervening. "Roy you need some back up."

_"_ _I can handle it Dinah. Last thing I need is help from anyone especially not from the junior Justice League."_ said Roy.

"No just access to our computer and files." said Naruto.

"In any case take care, my friend. And be careful." Aqualad said as the communication ended.

"What's going on right now that he would need the measurements of a known assassin?" Naruto decided to ask.

"This." said Dinah pulling the video from what looked like a conference given limos, press and the large building.

"Where is this?" the shinobi asked.

"Taipei." said Dinah. "It's the place chosen to be held for the peace summit between North and South Rhelasia. Last we heard negotiations between the two nations have broken down and as a last resort both representatives, Prime Minister Tseng and General Sing Manh Li, have agreed to a neutral party to host negotiations between the two factions."

"Is the situation between the two that dire?" asked Aqualad.

"I'm afraid so. If the two factions cannot find a compromise to co-exist it could lead to full scale war. We've already had border skirmishes already thanks to this." Dinah explained.

"What's the reason for all this?" Naruto asked.

"Mainly comes down to discrimination between to the two factions. Both of them saying that they have nothing in common and how both claim one side is superior to the other. Mainly base on borders and issues that have died off decades ago." the heroine said with disgust in her voice.

**'Figures. Humans being stupid. Not unlike Ajnin until you came along.'**  said Kurama in his head.

_'Yeah.'_ said Naruto thinking of his own race's history. "So who's the middle man of all this?"

"The rumors have gone from the Secretary General of the United Nations to our very own Superman. Though when he heard it he suggested that we ask the UN to send Wonder Woman since she is an Ambassador for Themycira. By the time that suggestion came however the UN already had selected someone." Dinah explained.

"Explains why Cheshire would be there then." said Aqualad. "The question then becomes which one of the three will be the target."

"My guess, the arbiter." said Naruto. "Who just now is pulling up in the limo with the police escort."

On cue they saw the white limo with said escort pull up to the building. Suddenly there was a panic as they heard what appeared to be a rocket being launched but it never seemed to reach its target.

Soon after they see Cheshire hopping on the heads of bodyguards as they and the escorts of both leaders pull out their weapons. The assassin leaps onto the limo. At which point a trick arrow is fired and launched a net only for her to easily slice it in half. This proves to be a distraction as Red Arrow tackles her to the ground just as the failed rocket land right into a newspaper stand.

The two tussled for a bit before they stopped with Cheshire straddling Red Arrow with security surrounding them pistols aimed at them as debris from the destroyed stand floated down upon them.

"That's not awkward at all." said Naruto sarcastically.

"Shh Cat Grants speaking." said Dinah as the show went on.

"We have just witnessed an assassination attempt live. Thankfully no one was hurt including our mystery arbiter."

The limo then opened to reveal who it was. Cat Grant spoke for the three watching as they were shocked to see who it was.

"Lex Luthor!?" said Cat Grant.

"Um guys last I checked isn't he supposed to be one of the bad guys?" asked Naruto remembering Luthor from the Leagues database as in the enemy category.

"He is but we haven't been able to prove it." said Dinah getting her cell phone of her jackets pocket.

"I gotta call the UN and confirm Roy is one of ours before they send him for a prison stay." she said.

They watched as she made the call.

"She will handle things with Roy." said Kaldur. "My main concern is why Luthor is trying to bring peace between the two nations? Our reports all indicate that he is making profit from the war."

"It's simple really. Peace brings more trade then war does. Luthor and his company stand to make far more with a united Rhaslea in peaceful times compared to chump change that war time brings." said Naruto.

"How do you know that?" said Kaldur.

"During my time as Green Lantern I had to negotiate on several planets for peace. One of the main points has always been trade. It's really not so different from wars between countries except mainly the scale of the conflict." said the shinobi.

Before Kaldur could ask more Dinah had returned.

"I've just got confirmation that Roy has been identified as Speedy and is released from police custody. With Luthor vouching for him if you can believe it."

"Huh." said Naruto. "I would've thought he would just let the matter pass."

"He might be also looking to profit from being there as well." said Kaldur.

"You think we should give him some back up?" Naruto asked.

Kaldur crossed his arms in thought for a moment before answering.

"Concerned as we are I think we should wait before moving in to help. However, we should keep an eye on the situation just in case."

"Are you sure?" Naruto questioned. "If Cheshire is involved then that means the League of Shadows also has their hands in this."

"I know and I'm inclined to believe we should back up our friend we cannot do so without his consent." said Kaldur though both the shinobi and the veteran hero could see he was uncomfortable with this decision.

"We will keep an eye on the situation as it develops. With Luthor involved it's usually a good idea." said Dinah finally. "If things go bad then we move in."

'Which they usually do.' said Kurama.

"Agreed." said Naruto out loud.

Suddenly the Zeta-Tube activated and J'onn stepped out.

"I take it you all have seen the news."

"Yes. Have you heard from the League on what to do?" said Dinah.

"At the moment the League has decided to take a watch and wait approach." J'onn responded.

"We are doing the same." said Kaldur.

"Well then in the mean time we should see M'gann and Superboy off. They are about to start their first day of school." said J'onn with a small smile on his face.

"Yep!" said the excited voice of M'gann as she flew to them. "Connor is waiting for us in the hangar." she continued flying to the hanger with her bags of lunch for her and the Kryptonian.

"Connor?" asked J'onn in confusion.

"We decided to give him a name. Connor Kent." Naruto said with a knowing wink. The Martian followed with a smile.

"Indeed." said the voice of Red Tornado flying down from his quarters above the center of the cave.

"Well isn't this a full party." said Dinah.

"I decided it would be best to see two of my charges off to school. If that meets with your approval." said the android.

"No problem. More the merrier." said Naruto

They followed the young Martian already talking to Conner.

"Got our lunches M'gann?" Conner asked knowing the answer.

"Yep." she said.

"The first day of the scholastic season is time of great significance. We all wanted to wish you well." said J'onn.

"Guess it's not a kryptonian thing huh." said Conner.

'We really need to do something about that kid.' said Kurama commenting on how Superman aka Clark Kent was still being absent in Conner's life.

'Didn't expect you to put your two cents.' said Naruto while agreeing with his partner. However, he noticed a more immediate problem to which Black Canary pointed out.

"Uh M'gann you might want to change before leaving." she said as M'gann was still in uniform and in her green Martian form. This only seemed to make M'gann even more excited.

"Oh I've been working for hours on this dress." she said quick changing her uniform into a white t-shirt with a brown short sleeved sweater, skirt, knee high socks with black shoes and finally a headband to keep her hair back.

"What do you think? Can M'gann M'ozz pass as an Earth girl now?" she said with her skin still green.

"Well..." said Aqualad.

"Just kidding!" she exclaimed twirling around and changing her skin to Caucasian.

"Meet Megan Morse." she said bowing theatrically.

"Well played Megan." said Naruto getting into the joke.

"Now get going you two, you're going to be late." said Dinah.

And thus the two left with M'gann handing one lunch to Conner.

"They grow up so fast." said J'onn with Sphere rolling behind them beeping.

"I don't know beeps but I think it was asking where they are going or when they were coming back." said Naruto.

"Either one or both I assume." said Kaldur. They then dispersed and headed back into the cave.

As they did so Naruto could not help but notice Dinah being tense.

"Dinah is everything alright?" he asked.

"I've known Roy almost as long as Oliver. I helped train him when he first started out. But since what happened at the Hall of Justice he's just kept his distance in his quest to try and be his own hero. Despite the poor choice in name that would say otherwise." Dinah explained.

"He's like family to you isn't he?" Naruto asked.

"Like the annoying little brother I never had." she said with a smile. "This issue with Rhalesia and the fact that Lex Luthor is there in any capacity I just can't help but worry that he may be in over his head and that's he's too stubborn to realize it."

"So you want to help him but don't want to seem overbearing." said Naruto deducing where this was going.

"I'm assuming this means that you want someone from the Team to go give him back up."

"Exactly." said Dinah. "Naruto I know he can seem a bit arrogant but he's a good guy..."

"Stop right there." he said hold his hand up. He then transformed into his uniform. "I will have to get approval from Kaldur but I don't think that will be a problem."

"Thank you." she said with an earnest grin.

"No worries. Like you said he's a good guy who might be just a touch overconfident in his abilities. Not to say he isn't capable but he does need to remember there are those he can turn to." said Naruto walking off to find Kaldur.

As she watched him walk off, a question formed in her mind.

"Do you really need Kaldur's permission?" she asked.

"No." he said. "But it's best to be polite."

**(Taipei)**

Naruto arrived via Zeta-Tube where it was close the conference building that held the peace negotiations of the two Rhalesias.

**'You realize that the boy may not be all too keen on receiving back up.'** said Kurama.

_'Yeah Kaldur said the same thing before he agreed to this impromptu mission.'_  said Naruto. Nevertheless he activated his earpiece.

"Green Lantern to Red Arrow do you read me?" he asked.

_"This is Red Arrow. What are you doing here."_  said Red Arrow's voice indignantly.

"We thought you could use some back up since it seems the situation has gotten bigger with Luthor showing up." said Naruto.

_"I told you I didn't need help."_  said the archer.

"Too bad you got it anyway. Just tell me what's going on." said Naruto.

_"Fine."_  said Red Arrow in defeat.  _"Cheshire managed to escape prison with the help of Sportsmaster. I managed to put a tracer on the helicopter they used to escape and it lead to this old monastery."_

"Okay. How did you know it was Sportsmaster?" asked Naruto.

_"I was in front of Cheshire's cell when the escape happened trying to interrogate her. I lost them in the chase that had me place the tracker."_  he explained.

"So she escaped on your watch?" Naruto questioned.

_"Yes alright I admit to that."_  said Red Arrow. Naruto then heard him take a breath.  _"Quiet. I think I'm seeing who their client is."_

Naruto did as he was told and waited. Moments later Red Arrow spoke up again.

_"It's Ra's al Ghul!"_

"You're sure?" said Naruto knowing from the files exactly who this was.

_"Positive. And he's not just Cheshire's master he the client. It looks like Luthor has been a thorn to his side. Especially now with a peace summit."_ said Red Arrow.

"Right assassins can't exactly find work with a nation in peace." said Naruto.

**'Unless said planet is full of nations with assassins also known as shinobi.'** said Kurama.

_"Uh oh."_  said Red Arrow suddenly.

"What? What is it?" Naruto questioned.

_"Have to call you back."_  said Red Arrow. From there the signal cut off.

"Damn it." said Naruto flying into the air.

_'Damn fool is going to get himself killed if I don't find him fast. Kurama can you pinpoint his locations from his emotions?'_ Naruto asked his partner.

**'I can give it a go.'** said Kurama. In the mean time Naruto created a screen and used it as a magnifying glass searching the city.

**'Check east. I can sense his fear and anger in that direction.'**  his partner called out. Naruto point the screen in that direction and sure enough there was Roy fighting Cheshire and Sportsmaster.

He made the screen disappear and flew at top speed towards them.

Naruto lowered himself to the city limits and he saw them as he approached. One thing seemed to stick out as he saw the combatants.

They had stopped for a moment and it seemed like Red Arrow was just standing there.

_'What the hell is going on?'_  Naruto questioned in his mind.

**'I don't know kid but all of a sudden his emotions just shut down. Like they aren't even there.** ' said the tailed beast.

_'You're getting nothing from him now?'_  Naruto asked.

**'Nothing. One moment anger frustration and fear. The next just nothing.'**  said Kurama.  **'Wait...he's back up again.'**

Sure enough the fight continued with Red Arrow being on the defensive with his feet behind the edge of the roof.

Naruto didn't what was going on but decided to put what he saw and Kurama felt aside for now. As Red Arrow was on the edge Naruto dropped right in front of Cheshire and Sportsmaster. He created a flash bang smoke bomb which he dropped in the center of them. As it exploded bright light flashed blinding the assassins while at the same time covering them in smoke.

As they coughed and shielded their eyes Naruto quickly grabbed the archer and they flew off. They didn't need to get far as they landed on a roof of a building.

Red Arrow shrugged his hand off.

"I didn't need-"

"Save it." countered Naruto. "You were literally a hair's breadth from being tossed into the river of that so called 'abandoned' monastery. What the hell were you thinking of going up against two highly skilled assassins alone like that without a plan?"

This made the young archer stop and rethink what had gone wrong and with a breath spoke again.

"It seems that I may, possibly, be in over my head." he admitted.

"Only possibly?" said Naruto.

"Man that's the best you're getting out of me alright." Red Arrow said with indignation.

"Fine okay, some humility is better than none I guess." said Naruto. "In any case what's our next move?"

"You're asking me?" Red Arrow questioned.

"I'm just here as back up. This is still you're mission as far as I'm concerned." said Naruto earnestly offering him an olive branch.

"Alright." Red Arrow said with a small smile. "We should probably talk to Luthor. We need to know why Ra's al Ghul himself wants Luthor dead."

"Agreed." said Naruto.

Naruto created a bubble surrounding them both and flew towards the hotel where Luthor was staying at. They saw Luthor getting dressed when he noticed them and opened the power window.

As they entered and the window closed Luthor turned to speak with them.

"I see you decided to bring in some assistance." said Luthor talking to Red Arrow. "I take it you're the Green Lantern that I have heard rumblings about lately."

"Yeah that's me. Let me guess Black Manta's been talking?" said Naruto.

"Among others." said Luthor gesturing his hand to the shinobi. "Lex Luthor."

"Yes I know." said Naruto but decided to be diplomatic about this and shook the man's hand albeit with a firm grip that had Luthor rubbing his hand afterwards.

"If we are done with the pleasantries we have things to discuss." said Red Arrow. "We now know that that the person who hired Cheshire is Ra's al Ghul. And he has now gotten Sportsmaster involved as well."

"I'm not surprised." said Luthor as his assistant Mercy helped him put on his suit's jacket. "Ra's has been something of a competitor of mine for some time."

**'Convenient that he seems to be making his move against him now though isn't it kid?'**  Kurama asked.

_'Yes, too convenient.'_  Naruto responded.

"Then maybe we should let the two of you take each other out and we just watch." said the archer.

"While that would seem like a good tactical decision on taking out enemies we still have the peace process to finish. Otherwise a country will go to war with itself." said Naruto

"You're friend here couldn't have explained the situation better." said Luthor. "However, they might expect the two of you since you managed to escape I presume."

"No they won't." said Naruto. "And we have a few surprises left."

**(Rhelasia Peace Conference)**

Cheshire was in her disguise pushing her cart of small food around getting closer to her target. The cart itself was filled with enough explosives to take out the entire room. Truthfully, it wasn't her first option as she preferred using something more subtle and with less collateral damage. Less mess she would say to herself.

But her "partner" aka her father decided that the subtlety was no longer in effect and that she should follow his plan.

That was only half the reason of course as she pushed her package forward.

He thought she was also worried about the archer and she was but for a different reason. He was skilled but she could handle him, though part of her wanted to handle him in a rather different sense.

No the one who she worried about now was the Green Lantern that showed up. She had fought him before and lost twice, handily, and was not looking forward to facing him again.

As she got closer to the tables a shimmering figure appeared before her.

_'Fate hates me.'_ she thought to herself as the shimmering ended and reveal the very Lantern that she did not want to face right in front of her.

"Going somewhere Cheshire?" said the Lantern. The assassin felt caught in both frustration and fear but hid it with a smile, pushed the button on the cart to activate the explosives and pushed it towards the meeting.

Naruto put his ring and created a barrier covering the conference and easily shielded them from the explosion. As the blast dissipated and the smoke cleared, he saw that Cheshire had her sigh's pulled out and behind her a helicopter dropped off Sportsmaster and the squad of what Naruto could only assume were soldiers of the League of Assassins.

The security forces both North and South Rhelasia moved to fight the intruders as they and their leader jumped off.

Red Arrow moved to Naruto's side his bow at the ready already firing at Cheshire who in turn deflected them with her sighs.

"Get Sporstmaster! Cheshire's mine!" he said

"So possessive already and we are only on our third date." she said with a flirtatious smile.

"Date? Something I don't know about Red?" Naruto asked.

"Never mind just get going!" he said as fired his arrow and commenced his "date" with Cheshire.

**'Oh there's an attraction there. I can feel it from both of them and that's saying something since I have a harder time reading the lady shinobi then usual. The weird kind. Kinda like how you meet someone that you just can't help but like.'**  said Kurama.

_'Cool it Furball we've got work to do.'_ said Naruto with a small smile behind his mask as he moved towards Sportsmaster who was easily taking out the guards that came at him. The last one he took out with a spinning jump kick to the back of his victim's head knocking him out cold if not killing him.

Naruto made his presence known by doing the same to two of his associates dodging a sword strike and sending him flying with a side kick to his side. Another had two swords but Naruto grabbed his wrists and tossed him right at Sportsmaster.

The masked mercenary dodged the man being thrown but not the punch to the face that knocked for a loop. Recovering, Sportsmaster pulled a cylinder, pushed a button and out came a cable with a metallic sphere attached to it. He then swung it like a whip and flung it towards his enemy. Naruto side stepped each attack before making a kunai construct and slicing the wire. He throws the kunai to which the masked man dodges but is once again misdirected to Naruto's charge.

Sportsmaster blocked the initial barrage of punches but as he makes the counter attack he gets hit with a palm strike to the face dazing him. Naruto continues with a right hand punch to the gut and jumps into the air for an axe kick to which Sportsmaster barely manages to roll out of the way, the impact from the kick leaving an impact on the floor. Sportsmaster recovers to land a left upper cut to Naruto only for Naruto to recover as if he wasn't even affected and countered with hand stance and slamming both of his feet into Sportsmaster's chest sending him flying to the helicopter.

His armor took some of the impact but not all. Gasping and realizing that fighting him hand-to hand wasn't working he griped another javelin and made to stab him while spinning it like a bo staff hoping to counter the Lantern's obvious skill and physical power.

"Seriously another weapon?" said Naruto using his own bo-staff construct and parrying his attacks.

"Whatever...works." he said panting from the effort. Naruto parried another before changing his construct into a longsword and slicing it in half. The villain pulled out a rapier but Naruto had grown tired of this game. As Sportsmaster moved to thrust Naruto grabbed the blade and channeled some of his chakra using his fire style to super heat the blade from his forcing Sportsmaster to release it. Naruto threw his own construct away and blasted him with a beam from his ring sending him once again into the helicopter only hard enough to dent the metal.

Sportsmaster tried getting up only to find the sword construct's blade at his throat.

"Jesus kid, you can fight. I haven't been knocked around like that in years." he panted. "Add that to the other displays you shown from Santa Prisca, the Doctor Roquettte, Biayla, even Scandinavia."

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing that he knew about those missions. Even when he helped Prince John. That he could account for maybe Black Manta spilling the beans but the others? Not so much.

He knew there was only one way that he could have gotten that kind of information.

"Who is the inside source of your info?" he said putting more pressure on his enemy's neck.

"Clever boy." said Sportsmaster. "It's very inside you know."

"That doesn't answer the question." he said putting enough pressure on the blade for there now to be a small cut and blood coming from the tip of the blade.

"No answers today." said Sportsmaster

Immediately following that statement Naruto could sense that someone was about to attack from behind and quickly dodged Cheshire's attack. Seeing him in a position to talk took her attention away from Red Arrow to fight him.

Red Arrow was at the ready.

"Lantern lets end this." he said. Naruto could see that the fighting was indeed lasting too long and nodded. He then made up his hand signs.

"Wind Style: Tornado Field Jutsu!" he called out. Suddenly the room was in a controlled tornado with only the League assassins being caught up in it and being thrown to the walls unconscious.

Sportsmaster and Cheshire barely held on as the tornado's g-force nearly knocked them out of where they came from. As suddenly as it appeared it stopped with all the enemy combatants down and out.

Cheshire quickly put on her mask and threw a smoke bomb. Naruto quickly dispelled it again with a gust of wind but they were already gone.

They both turned to see an assassin somehow have regain consciousness and attack the delegation.

"Mercy." Luthor said politely and calmly. The assistant raised her right arm and it suddenly transformed into a blaster instantly taking out the assassin and changing back into a normal looking arm seamlessly.

"She gives new meaning to the arms race doesn't she." he said.

"That technology is most impressive." said General Sing Manh Li

"We owe you our lives sir." said Prime Minister Tseng.

Red Arrow could only look on in amazement.

"They owe him their lives?" he questioned.

Naruto just shrugged.

Soon enough the action was over and the news quickly reported that thanks to Luthor both sides were now signing a peace treaty that could potentially lead to the reunification of Rhelasia.

Aqualad was with Naruto and Red Arrow as he had arrived to check on them after everything that happened tonight.

"I can't believe we did a solid for Lex Luthor." said Roy as they left the building.

"Not for Luthor. For peace." said Aqualad.

"And since the peace treaty is now official that makes the contract on Luthor null and void. I call that a win." said Naruto.

"Is it?" Red Arrow questioned. "I heard what Sportsmaster said. Do you guys think there is a mole on the team?"

"He could have said that just to sow doubt into our heads. That's the most likely thing." said Naruto. "But at the same time he knew about our missions."

"So we cannot rule out the possibility. I will investigate this but quietly." said Kaldur.

"I don't like the idea of keeping secrets from our friends Kaldur." said Naruto not feeling good about this situation.

"Neither do I, but we cannot let the mole that we are looking into this. We do not want to tip him or her off." said Kaldur.

"Alright." Naruto grumbled.

"Good luck with that." said Roy saluting and was about to leave when he turned back around. "Your name is Naruto right?"

"Yeah." said the Lantern.

"I just wanted to say I enjoyed watching you work tonight, and to say thanks to you both for deciding to help me. You and the team have my respect."

**'Finally.'**  said Kurama to which Naruto silently agreed.

"I'm still getting used to this solo act but if and when you need me I will be there." he said shaking both Kaldur and Naruto's hands.

"Take care, my friend." said Kaldur.

"Same." said Naruto echoing the Atlantean's tone.

As Roy left, Naruto turned to Kaldur.

"I'm going to stay for a bit if you don't mind Kaldur." said Naruto.

"May I inquire why?" he asked.

"Just some loose ends to tie up, nothing you need to worry about." said Naruto.

"Very well, be sure to contact Black Canary and tell her that Roy is okay." said Kaldur.

"Roger that." said Naruto and flew off.

He is soon above the building that house that apartment that Luthor is staying in and makes an earpiece construct and puts in it his left ear and activates that listening device construct that he put into Luthor's apartment.

_"After showcasing Mercy's...equipment both leaders are literally buying into the peace. Thus the reunification of North and South Rhelasia will soon be a reality with Lexcorps guidance."_  said the voice of Luthor. From there he heard the clanging of classes and another voice with an accent soon speaks.

_"Thus another corner of the world sees the Light."_  said the voice that Naruto knew had to belong to Ra's al Ghul himself.

_'I knew it!'_  Naruto thought to himself. _'The whole thing was a setup. The assassination plot, that League excuse of a ninja attacking so Mercy could show off. All of it so Luthor and Ra's could get a foothold in a country!'_

**'And the fact that the two of them were in collusion with each other. Competitors my furry ass!'** said Kurama

_'There's another thing. The way Ra's said 'Light' he said it with more emphasis than normal.'_  Naruto thought.

**'A group name perhaps?'**  said Kurama.

_'Gotta be.'_ Naruto responded.  _'Which means it's possible there are more than just the two of them. Who else on the Leagues list of enemies could they be colluding with?_ '

**'That line goes around the block Naruto. The highest of them given the intellect and power both of them have.' s** aid Kurama trying to help narrow it down.

_'There are still too many to narrow it down. They could be working with anyone of like mind. Assuming they are on the list.'_  said Naruto.

He took a moment to calm down and think. All his thoughts however kept coming back to that brief moment where he saw Roy just stand there on that room in between Sportsmaster and Cheshire. Not even in a fighting stance, just standing there.

**'What are you thinking kid?** ' ask Kurama.

_'It just seemed weird that Roy just stood there like that. And what Sportsmaster said about a mole...'_  he shook his head.  _'Doesn't matter, even if Roy is the mole I doubt it would be of his own free will. Either way I have no evidence, and Sportsmaster wasn't exactly forthcoming even at sword point.'_

**'Maybe that girl Cheshire would be more willing to talk. I got the sense that she didn't care much for her partner tonight.' s** aid Kurama.

_'Assuming we could find her.'_  said Naruto. He sighed at realizing that there was nothing more they could do tonight and flew off to find a Zeta-Tube.

**'What are we going to tell the Team about this?'**  said Kurama.

_'Nothing for now until I get more information. Besides like Kaldur said if I do tell the team and if there is a mole I don't want him or her tipping off this 'Light' group_.' Naruto responded.

**'Agreed, for now keep it low key.'**  said Kurama as Naruto found a Tube near an abandoned ally and Zeta'd back to Mount Justice.

Upon arriving he saw Dinah there.

"I heard about what happened with the peace summit. Good work." she said.

"Thanks." said Naruto. "And before you ask Roy is fine. Although you might want to talk with him about flirting with the enemy when you see him next."

"What do you mean?" she asked putting her hands on her hips with a look.

"Just that during the fight Cheshire mentioned that they were on their third date. Probably just to get under his skin but he didn't seem to be entirely unopposed to the idea." said Naruto.

"I see. I will have that talk with him about that." she said. She soon noticed that Naruto was a bit distracted.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah just had a long day you know." said Naruto finally returning to his civilian attire. "I'm going to head to bed."

"Right." said Dinah. "We still on for another sparring match tomorrow?"

"You know it. I wouldn't miss those for the world." said Naruto sincerely. Truth be told, it was hard to find a good sparring partner and Dinah was awesome in taijutsu.

"Great see you then." she said with a genuine smile. "And Naruto…" she said approaching him and touching his arm. "Thank you for looking out for Roy."

"No problem Dinah. We are friends after all. And Roy is a good guy." said Naruto.

"Nevertheless thank you again. See you tomorrow." she said using the Zeta-Tube to go home as well.

Naruto walked to his room to try and find sleep. If he could given what he knew now.

**End Chapter**

_Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. All delayed just like this chapter. I am once again sorry that this took longer than it should have. I will spare you the details and say that my resolution this year is to refocus on my writing and try my best not let RL take that from me again._

_Further note there is some concern that I am following too much from the canon. Let me assure you that while the canon story will still be followed there will be chapters that will be strictly following Naruto on his own adventures throughout the story such as I did for Prince John. Starting in the next chapter._

_Once again edition goes to qtar1984. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and will see you all sooner, much sooner, than later._


	18. Negotiations and Reconciliation

He had been having the same dream for weeks now, since the mission in Bialya. He didn't know how but he always knew it was since the first time he had it.

He was flying above what he guessed he would call his home city of Happy Harbor since that is where Mount Justice resided.

He wasn't alone though. Each time he was with a girl, M'gann to be exact. They were flying hand in hand over the city. Just flying, no trouble no mission, just the two of them.

Eventually, they stop and just float in the sky facing each other holding hands. His and her faces getting closer and closer to the point they would kiss.

It was then that Conner Kent woke up.

_'Why is it only in my dreams that I can fly with her?'_ he thought to himself. He tried again making a small jump.

Nothing happened.

He gritted his teeth and started to shadow box thinking of how unfair it was to have a moment where he was flying with a girl he started to have feelings for. And for just a moment feeling what it was like to be him.

To be Superman.

The thought of his progenitor got him so angry that he threw a punch at an invisible opponent.

Suddenly he felt an energy that he never felt before. It was like he was in that pod again feeling the sun coursing through him. A second later he felt another energy only it seemed to come from within himself. Almost like the first feeling of the sun had set it off.

At that moment his hand glowed a bright blue and a burst of energy surged through hitting the wall in front of him cracking it.

Conner looked at his hand as it stopped glowing.

"What's happening to me?" he asked himself.

" _Conner, its Kaldur. You and M'gann are requested to meet us in the mission room,"_ said the voice of the Team leader in his ear piece.

"On my way." said the boy of steel shaking off his surprise. This was something he needed to bring to Naruto and Dinah but at a later time if Kaldur's tone suggested.

It looked liked another mission.

He entered the mission room to find M'gann already there. Batman was there along with Red Tornado and Naruto in full Green Lantern uniform. It was the one person in there that he did not expect.

Superman was there. The two of them met eyes for a moment before the Man of Steel averted his eyes. Conner frowned at this but kept his anger to himself given that everyone else was here and it had to be for a mission.

"What the mission?" he asked.

Batman pulled up the mug shots of four villains.

"On the Fourth of July these four ice villains staged simultaneous attacks. Mr. Freeze, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost and Captain Cold were easily taken down. Too easily it seems. Both Killer Frost and Captain Cold were sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary." he said pulling up an image of the prison.

"While Icicle Jr. was sent to a juvenile facility and Freeze sent to his cell in Arkham. But Freeze petitioned to be recognized legally sane and Jr. sued to try as an adult. Thus both are now on a transport to Belle Reve." the Dark Knight continued.

"Meaning that they wanted to go there in the first place." said Naruto.

"Exactly." said Batman who then turned to Superboy and M'gann. "I'm sending the two of you in under cover to find out why."

"Who inside the prison, will know it's them?" asked Aqualad.

"No one I'm afraid. We don't know who in the prison staff could be in on the scheme. Could be no one or it could be everyone." said Naruto. "My question is who are they going as?"

"The so called Terror Twins." said Red Tornado pulling up a video of two teenagers raging destruction across the city of New Orleans.

"They've been laying down a path of destruction in three states of the southern United States. No demands except one it would appear." said Superman.

"Attention." said Conner looking straight at the Man of Steel.

"Correct." said Superman with a tone suggesting something that neither he nor Naruto had trouble detecting. He'd have to ask Kurama after the briefing.

"Martian Manhunter and Superman will handle them and the two of you will take their places and find out the plot inside Belle Reve. Any questions?" said Batman. Silence followed.

"I will assist in making sure you are briefed in further details as well as making sure Superboy fits the profile in his appearance. Mainly to ensure his hair follows suit with the male twin Brother Tommy." said Red Tornado.

"Very well, dismissed." said Batman turning off the displays. Naruto could not help but notice the tension between Superman and his younger counterpart. Especially as the older Kryptonian made a glance at him as he left.

**'I sense regret in Superman. I think he wants to reach out, yet hesitates'** commented his partner.

_'You're sure?'_ asked the young shinobi.

**'I can never be sure about these things. That's your department Naruto. What I can tell you is just what I think. And I think he wants to reach out but won't for some reason.'**  said Kurama

_'In other words it's complicated, more of what I don't need.'_ said Naruto.  _'At least there something I can do about this situation.'_

"Kaldur you, Conner and M'gann got this mission. I'm going to stay behind." said Naruto.

"May I ask why?" said Kaldur. He knew the Lantern long enough now to know that he would not pass up a mission unless there was a reason.

"I'm going to try and get Superman on board with helping Conner at long last. Keep it between the two of us alright." said Naruto quietly trying to make sure that neither Conner nor Clark hear him. Not likely but still worth a shot.

"Very well." said Kaldur. "Good luck."

They both notice said Boy of Steel heading towards them and Kaldur left.

"What's going on?" Conner asked.

"Nothing, just need to take care of some stuff here." said Naruto glad to see that Conner was too focused on everything except his conversation with Kaldur.

"You're not coming?" said Conner.

"Not this time. Besides with you, M'gann, and Kaldur it should be enough for an undercover job. More people are not an asset on a mission like this." Naruto explained

"I guess." said Conner. Naruto then noticed something was off about him.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Hey after the mission I need to talk to you about something." said Conner.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Um..." the Boy of Steel began. "I woke up this morning and I was frustrated so I started to box and at one point my right hand glowed blue and somehow managed to force some sort of energy into the wall."

Naruto looked at him for a moment.

"Is this the first time something like this has manifested?" Naruto asked. Conner nodded in response.

"I got frustrated and it just happened."

"It might be a side effect when I put chakra into your system. Have you had any other abilities come up?" Naruto asked.

"Not yet." said Conner. "Should I pull out of the mission?"

"That depends do you think it will effect it at the moment?" Naruto in turn question. Conner seemed to think on it for a moment.

"No. I can handle it."

"Good. We you get back we will discuss it further okay." said Naruto.

Conner nodded as he left.

_'Well that was interesting.'_ he thought.

**'He's worried and rightfully so. But committed to his mission.'** said Kurama. Naruto just pinched his nose to his partner's amusement.

_'One thing at a time.'_ he then reached into his earpiece to call Dinah.

"Dinah, it's me." said Naruto.

" _I read you Naruto."_

"Could you come down to the cave? There are matters that I want to discuss. One of them being the situation between Clark and Conner." he stated.

" _I'll be right there."_ said Dinah. Naruto deactivated his ear piece.

"Red Tornado, could you come down? I need to talk to you as well," Naruto asked as he pulled up on the reports from each mission that the Team has done.

Soon after Red Tornado flew down beside him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked.

"Just a couple things before Dinah and probably J'onn show up." said Naruto turning to him. "The first thing you can do is look at these files and tell me what you think."

"I have read the files of each mission already." said the android.

"Look again. And look closer. Humor me." said Naruto.

Red Tornado said nothing as he did as he was told. A second or so later he turned back to Naruto.

"There appears to be a correlation. As if the enemies that the Team have faced so far are in fact working together. For what purpose I am still unsure of." he said.

"Or for that matter who they are working for. Our first mission had Sportsmaster as the emissary for a client. The same client that had the brains to come up with the formula and supply it to the Kobra Cult." said Naruto.

"All of which you already knew." said Red Tornado in a tone that suggested that he was stating the obvious.

"Just wanted to see if I wasn't the only one." said Naruto.

"I can assure you that are most likely not. However, there is still not enough to confirm. Just enough to be certain." said the android. "Everything indicating that you are in fact quite bored."

"Bored?" the shinobi questioned.

"It's been obvious for some time. Between you trying to help the Team with training or sparring with Black Canary or simply patrolling you've been trying to find something to do. Now you are looking into this situation where there might be an external element to recent crimes. A case of boredom as it were can be one prime reason aside from the pursuit of justice one like anything is not to be ashamed of from what I have observed." Red Tornado explained in his monotone voice.

Naruto just stared at him for a moment.

**'I could have told you that, but it was much more fun to observe.'** said Kurama.

_'Shut up fur-ball!'_ Naruto said to his partner. He could hear the laughter coming from him though all the same.

"Be that as it may." said Naruto. "That I guess leads me to another question."

"Which would be?"

"What do you know about the Helmet of Fate?" he asked.

"What about it?" asked the normally welcome voice of Dinah with J'onn in tow.

"Oh." said Naruto "I didn't hear you guys come in." said Naruto

"We just came in the Zeta-Tube just a second ago." the Martian responded. "Now what is this about the Helmet?"

"I was just asking about it since Red here served on the JSA before coming to the League. More specifically as to why the Lord of Order has this need to be kept on the host. I figure it being a helmet; the host could just take it off whenever they wanted to have some semblance of a normal life." Naruto explained.

"To that I don't know. I am not even sure how Kent Nelson managed to convince the Lord of Order that it was his time to leave his employ as it were." said the android. "The only way to truly know how is to ask him yourself."

"Which means putting the helmet on yourself risking Nabu never letting you go." said Dinah.

"I have an idea to get around that." said Naruto. "Regardless there's something else I need to speak with both of you."

"So now you are changing subject after suggesting that you may be trying to convince a lord of a dimensional plane not to take possession of people while also letting on that you may try to put said helmet on just to talk to him." said Dinah with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"I told you I have a way around it." said Naruto.

"Which I would like to know how you plan to pull that off." said Dinah. Naruto sighed.

"I told you about jutsu right?" said Naruto to which Dinah nodded.

"Jutsu?" J'onn questioned to which Naruto could understand given that it was the first time another league member was hearing about it.

"Techniques from my home world." said Naruto. "Anyway there's one called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a specialty of mine. I can use it to make clones of myself; be it just one or a few thousand if need be."

"There's a small time villain that we know that can do something to that effect as well. Billy Numerous he calls himself. Punk kid with the ability to create clones." said Dinah.

"So you know what I am talking about." said Naruto to which Dinah and the Martian both nodded.

"So that would mean that you plan to use this jutsu to clone yourself and use said clone to put on the helmet." said Red Tornado.

"Exactly, it'll let me talk with Nabu." said Naruto.

The other two looked to each other for a moment before turning back to Naruto.

"Okay." said Dinah. "Sound like you should give it a shot."

"Glad to have approval Dinah." said Naruto sarcastically.

"I only ask to make sure you're not putting yourself in harm's way Naruto. I like to think that after the months of us training the Team and our sparring sessions that we may have become friends instead of just allies." said Dinah.

Hearing the hurt tone Naruto took a step closer and grasped her on her right shoulder gently.

"We are." he said. "Look I'm sorry. I've been having some issue with people in authority questioning my every move lately and I've been trying to keep busy from being bored. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

She looked at his hand for a moment before turning back to him and smiling with a relieved look on her face.

"It's alright. I guess I was being a little overbearing." she said. "Just trying to keep you all out of trouble."

"I appreciate it." he said taking his hand off her. "Back to the matter of why I called you both here. It's time we dealt with the Conner's issue with having his mentor being distant."

"Finally, I was wondering when it would be time to get Clark involved." said Dinah being very excited.

"I agree that something must be done to have him involved with his clone but Bruce has already tried and failed to convince him to do so." said J'onn.

"But I know something that the Bat doesn't. I know that there is something that Clark knows about Conner that we don't or at the very least I suspect that is the case. Which is why along with the three of us, the key will be Diana. She's the one who got me to thinking that there is something that he knows that we don't and for that reason alone we must know what it is." said Naruto.

"Alright I will contact her to meet us here." said Dinah.

"Better yet have her arrange Clark to meet us at the Daily Planet." said J'onn.

"Which then I presume you will be facing Nabu for that chat." said Red Tornado.

"Which would be now." said Naruto walking towards the room where they kept the souvenirs of the Team's missions.

"Now?" said Dinah.

"No time like the present. Make sure to tell me when the arrangements are made." said Naruto.

The three of them just stared at each other for a moment.

"He seems to know what he is doing." said Red Tornado.

"That's what I'm afraid of." said Dinah.

"We had similar doubts when he faced Amazo alone and yet he proved correct then. And he will still be on the outside world." said the Martian. "In any case he has job. Let's do ours."

**(Souvenir Room)**

**'Are you sure about this?'** asked Kurama

_'Not you too. I thought you said you could handle this if Nabu goes off and tries to possess me through the clone somehow?'_ Naruto questioned.

**'I said I was confident I could handle him and I am. That does not mean I'm not trying to be cautious. We still don't know all that Nabu is capable of.'** said his partner.  **'Just be careful that's all I'm saying.'**

_'I will.'_ Naruto assured the fox as he looked at the helmet.  _'But we got this.'_

With that said he made the familiar T hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he called. Immediately following a puff of smoke appeared with the clone in the same garb minus the power ring.

"Let's do this boss." said the clone grabbing the helmet. The clone took a deep breath and put the helmet on.

Instantly he found himself in what seemed to be an endless void with nothing around him. Looking around the shinobi found a bright light and within it was in fact the Helmet of Fate floating inside of it.

"Nabu I presume?" said Naruto.

" _ **You are not a real host body."**_ said the voice of the Lord of Order.

"How very observant." said the Naruto. "No I'm using this clone of myself as vessel so that we may speak."

" _ **Whatever you wished to accomplish is moot. Unless you plan to make your true body available to me I suggest you take it off and leave this place."**_ said Nabu.

" **Awful grouchy aren't you?"** said another unfamiliar voice. Nabu turned to find himself face to face with Kurama.

The helmet version of Nabu inclined upward. The only sign that Naruto could see that if he was surprised.

" **Allow me to explain something to you. The only reason that my friend here is using a clone body instead of his own is because he has become more cautious when doing reckless things such as this. However, when it comes to keeping his mind his own I am the first line of defense and one that is not to be trifled with. So I suggest that you listen to what he has to ask you. Otherwise things might get unpleasant."** said the tailed beast.

"And there you have the situation presented to you in full." said Naruto.

The Lord of Order turned back to Naruto.

" _ **You are full of surprises Naruto Uzumaki."**_

"You know my name." the shinobi stated.

" _ **When I was inside of Kid Flash's mind I saw the images of those he considers his friends. Your name was among them thought I did not expect to find you to have such abilities or allies at your call."**_ said the Lord of Order.

"Unpredictable might as well be my middle name." said Naruto. "But we are getting off topic."

" _ **Indeed."**_ said Nabu.  _ **"Very well. What is it you want to know?"**_

"You already know what he wants." said an older voice. It was Naruto who turned to see an debonair old man in a business suit walking with a cane.

"Kent Nelson I presume?" said the lantern.

"Correct young man." said Nelson. "But you're not here to talk to an old man." he turned to Nabu.

"You know the question he came here to ask since his clone put on the helmet. And frankly with his big friend here I suggest you answer."

" _ **You wish to know why I insist that the helmet be worn at all times by my current host."**_ Nabu stated.  _ **"The answer is simple. As I told Kid Flash this world needs Doctor Fate."**_

"That's debatable, though to be honest having a powerful magical ally definitely wouldn't hurt." said Naruto. "But my question retains to the reason why someone needs to wear your helmet all the time when a person, Like Nelson, managed to retire and have another life."

" _ **My avatar is the helmet boy!"**_ said Nabu with surprising anger.  _ **"Kent Nelson kept me in the tower of decades and now I sit in this mountain's room like a trophy! It is not just!"**_

"Ah." said Naruto starting to get the reason. "Mr. Nelson?"

"I left the helmet in the tower since I knew it would be most protected until another was chosen." said the old wizard. "Though I didn't exactly give Nabu a list of possible candidates I grant you."

" **And why not?"** said Kurama getting interested.  **"As someone who was stuck from one prison to another I can see where he is coming from. No offense kid."**

"No I'm with you on this one Kurama." said Naruto. Nelson took a deep breath.

"The reason being that becoming Dr. Fate can be a life time deal. When I was younger I took the mantle without hesitation because I felt the need to protect others. But when I met my wife, Inza, she showed me that there was more to life the the battle between good and evil. So when the Justice Society I retired and put the helmet there. I may have left him there but I wasn't going to let someone just walk in like I did and potentially give up that life they could live."

"I get what you're saying Nelson." said Naruto. "But at the same time they should have that choice." he then turned back to the helmet. "But it has to go both ways."

" _ **How do you mean?"**_ said Nabu.

"The fact is you're right Nabu. The world needs Dr. Fate. With the emergence of Klarion and who knows how many magic based enemies that the League faces a little more of the supernatural on our side would be a benefit." the shinobi said. "However, what I won't abide is someone giving up their entire life to do so. There must be a balance."

" **What my friend here is saying Nabu that when and if there is someone who comes along that fits the bill and is willing to put your helmet on then they can take it off when they are done for that time. You know the whole secret identity that goes on this planet."** said the tailed beast.

" _ **Impossible."**_ said the Lord of Order.  ** _"I must be worn at all times for dangers of the magical realm."_**

"If you don't then I will have no choice but to throw your helmet into the ether of space. Preferably after sending Mr. Nelson here to the afterlife with his wife so he isn't stuck in here with you for all eternity." said Naruto.

"This arrangement also means that when the host is no longer able, whether its because he or she is too old or they want to live their lives on their own terms, you will grant it to them. They can help you find a new host but no more of you being a permanent part of it. Otherwise no one will want to become your avatar." Naruto further explained.

" **And before you start ranting know this."** said the Tailed Beast.  **"He will not waver and he is not bluffing. Either you take his deal or find yourself in the void. Your choice."**

The Lord of Order just floated there for what felt like forever before finally answering.

" _ **Your terms are acceptable."**_ he said finally.  ** _"Be sure to find my next host soon."_**

"Thank you for your time." said Naruto with a small hint of smugness. With that said the helmet form of Nabu disappeared into the ether.

"What's your name again kid?" said Nelson.

"Naruto Uzumaki." said Naruto.

"Well Naruto Uzumaki. I have to say I've never seen anyone get the better of Nabu like that." said the old man with a satisfied smile.

"I had my partner here to help with that." said the lantern gesturing to his the fox.

"Yes. Quite the surprise. And quite the defense against Nabu taking you over." said the sorcerer. "Between the two of you even I doubt that Nabu could have taken you over even if he wanted to. He could have tried though."

" **Couldn't be too careful of that. Hence why he created the shadow clone in the first place to make sure that didn't happen."** said Kurama.

"Clone?" asked Nelson.

"This is a Shadow Clone that I used as a go between this realm and the physical." said Naruto.

"I see." said Nelson. "Smart thinking."

"Like Kurama said I've gotten smarter when doing something stupid." said Naruto. "Are you sure you want to stay here. It could still be some time before we can find anyone who could fill your shoes as Doctor Fate."

"Like I told Wally when he was in here." Nelson said taking out his watch. He opened it to reveal the picture of what Naruto assumed must be his wife. "That this the good thing about eternity. You've got plenty of it."

"Then for your sake I hope that you don't have to wait too much longer." said Naruto as he walked away.

"Just one thing though." said the old magician. "One of Nabu's gifts is his ability to see one's fate. A possible one anyway. While I myself do not have this gift it doesn't take a Lord of Order to know the veil of destiny that cloaks you. It is something you might consider asking him about when the time comes."

"Personally I would rather not know." said Naruto. "I've been the child of one prophecy and it coming to pass gave me great pain in the end. I would rather make my own fate." And with those words the young lantern disappeared.

"Something tells me that choice or not your destiny will come to pass." said Nelson in the void.

Naruto soon found himself back in the room once again. His clone took the helmet off just as Dinah entered the room.

"Naruto are you all right?" she asked looking that the clone then to the real version and back again. The clone shrugged putting the helmet back onto the shelf and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"I'm fine Dinah." said Naruto. "I just had a chat with Nabu. After some talking he has agreed to terms that both he and whoever becomes his host will live with."

"That soon? Its only been like five minutes." said Dinah.

"Really?" said Naruto. "Time must pass by differently in the mental realm inside the helmet cause it feels a bit longer than that."

"Well for however long it took at least that's one matter taken care of." said Dinah.

"Superman's problem with Conner is next on the list then." the shinobi stated.

"I talked with Diana and she says to meet her and Clark later today on top of the Daily Planet after he's done with work." said Dinah. "What's you're plan for that situation?"

"Basically get him to open up on why he is being distant in the first place and get him past it and accepting the fact that Conner is here and he needs his help. Now I dare say even more so." said Naruto.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean that Conner's powers are developing. Before he left he told me that he threw a punch and the wall, a short distance in front of him, shattered under the force of it." said Naruto.

Dinah's eye's widened in surprise.

"Could this be a byproduct of you sending some of your chakra into his system?"

"It's more than likely. Though how its developing I don't know. Which why we need Clark's help."

"In that case I hope this meeting goes in the direction that best helps Conner." said Dinah. "I'll see you at the Daily Planet."

Naruto nodded and she left. Naruto moved to do the same but took one last look at the Helmet of Fate.

**'Are you worried about what Nelson said? About destiny cloaking you and all that.'** asked his partner.

_'I'll try not to think about it.'_ said Naruto as he took a breath and left the room.  _'We make our own fate.'_

Yet even as he walked away there was a feeling he had. That maybe that was not always the case.

**(Daily Planet)**

Naruto, J'onn, and Dinah with both he and her inside a bubble flew down on the the top of the Daily Planet. They saw that both Diana and Clark, both garbed in their civilian appearances, were already there waiting for them as they landed.

"Good view of the city from here." said Naruto trying to diffuse some of the tension he could already feel from the Man of Steel.

"Most tend to think so." said Clark looking at the horizon. "But that's not why Diana asked me to talk to you all is it?"

"You already know why we are here Kal." said Diana.

"Its about Superboy." Clark stated.

"He has a name now. Conner Kent. We thought that it seemed to fit given his origins." said Naruto. Clark seemed to tense up for a moment but then relaxed a little.

_'Anything?'_ he aske Kurama.

**'Its strange. First there seemed to be maybe resentment but then oddly acceptance before his emotional wall came back up.'** said Kurama.

Naruto smiled. That was a small step but in the right direction.

"It doesn't change the fact that he doesn't me. He needs all of you." said Clark

"Yeah the whole reminder of what he isn't. I got that from Bruce and truth to be told its bullshit and you know it." said Dinah.

"In not so harsh language I have to concur with Dinah." said J'onn. "We know that your DNA being stolen from you was a violation and you have every right to be angry about it. But there is no call to take it out on the boy. Whatever else he may be he is innocent of that."

Clark stood with a look on his face that Naruto didn't need Kurama to read. He could see the emotion on his face now. He knew that Clark knew what J'onn said was the truth and that he wished to be able to help Conner. But there was still something holding him back.

"Here's why I think on this." Naruto began. "Everything that J'onn said you already know. So either you are not the man that they think you are or you know something else about Conner. Something so disturbing that it is the one thing that is keeping you from reaching out your hand and being the mentor that he needs."

Clark's eye widened for a moment but that was all that was needed for the others to realize that Naruto was correct.

"Kal." said Diana putting her hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

He took a breath and spoke.

"You've all noticed that he doesn't have all of my powers and that the ones he does have are weaker then mine."

"We noticed yes what of it?" asked Dinah.

"There's a reason that is happening. He's only half kryptonian. He's also half human as well." said Clark.

"How do you know that?" asked J'onn

"The night when Cadmus was destroyed when I first saw him and he showed the shield on his torn up white suit I used my x-ray vision to scan his DNA. Sure enough I saw kryptonian genes but I also saw human in there as well." said Clark.

"That doesn't quite explain the distance from him though." said Naruto knowing that from what he gathered about him that Clark felt that Earth was his home and that its people were as much his as well as he would have with any Kryptonians or any other race for that matter.

It was then that Naruto's eyes widened at a realization when Clark asked a question.

"Whose DNA do you think was used?"

At that they all looked at each other. First in confusion and then realization as they thought the same thing.

"Lex Luthor? His is the human part of the genome in Conner?" Diana asked but from Clark's look it was the truth.

"Okay." said Naruto after a moment with that thought in all their brains. "Besides the disturbing factor that can attribute why would they even put human DNA with Conner in the first place?"

"If I had to guess I would say trying to clone a pure Kryptonian was too difficult with it being alien DNA. On top of which I don't know how even a pure clone would react given how difficult it would be to replicate artificially." said Clark. "More to the point, the boy could have been programmed mentally with what orders that could be hiding in his subconscious. Luthor might even expect me to embrace him to learn who I am and any other secrets he could ferret out. So you see it not just how I feel about what was done to me. It's what might happen if Conner becomes something that I may have to stop."

He then turned around to face the view of the city to calm himself down.

Naruto, Dinah, and J'onn understood his where he was coming from. When he came to this planet and looked at the Team he knew about Conner being a clone and from the League report about the Geno-Morph's telepathically programming him. However, what he talked about was a small chance since Kaldur, Wally, and Robin busted in and disrupted what was going in that place. On top of which they had both J'onn and M'gann to prevent what he was saying might happen.

Before any of the three could explain this to him Diana gave them a look and shook her head as she walked up to Clark.

_'Let her handle this.'_ said J'onn in his head. He looked to Dinah and nodded which gave confirmation that she got the same message.

She walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder turning him to look at her.

"Kal," she began. "What has been done to you was a crime. One of which you have every right to be angry of. At Luthor especially. But you know that doesn't give you the right to take it out on the boy. From what I have heard from Dinah this boy does not demonstrate any the traits that you are afraid of. Aside from the anger he feels for not having the one person who knows what it means to be an outsider."

He turned away in shame of that fact but Diana just gently placed a hand on his cheek to turn him back towards her.

"I'm not shaming you Kal." she said gently. "I'm telling you that what you have felt is not a sin. Its not wrong to feel violated. But this boy did not ask to be created. Take you anger out on the people who have done this. Not Conner himself whose only crime is being here regardless of where he got his human genes he is still part of you. And I believe the best part that can only be awakened by you."

With that Clark just smiled and took her hand in both of his.

"You're right." he said. "Thank you Diana." he then turned to all of them. "Thank all of you for finally getting my head out of my ass."

"No need for such words." said Diana. "You're worries are valid. But if any such programming does exist we shall face it together."

Clark nodded.

_'Thank Kami that's over.'_ thought Naruto.

"There is just one thing though. I'm still not his father." said Clark and held both hands out. "Hear me out. Fact is even though he's barely a year old physically he's sixteen. I'm in my early thirties from a human age point but thanks my Kryptonian DNA and with the power I get from the sun the chances of me looking anywhere near my age is pretty slim. Frankly I don't think taking him as my son is going to work for either me or him."

"So being his big brother would make you both more comfortable." said Naruto going with what the Man of Steel was saying.

"Exactly. Truth be told he and the rest of the Team have enough authority figures. I can be a bridge between those two roles. Plus it would give me a chance to guide someone in that fashion." said Clark.

Naruto could tell that the more he talked about it the more he liked the idea. So did he and the rest of the group.

"I think Conner will like this relationship as well." said Diana. "I can tell you from experience it is much easier to converse with those you consider your siblings then those you consider your parents."

"We will have to wait for what Conner says but I think you guys are right." said Dinah.

"When Conner returns from his mission we can discuss it with him then." said J'onn.

"Yeah." said Clark with a heavy sigh. "I've got some apologizing to do."

"And there is something I need to discuss with the both of you about his powers." said Naruto.

"Let me know when he and M'gann return to the cave. I will be there." said Clark. He then turned to Diana. "We should get to back to the watchtower. Care to join me?"

"Always." said Diana. They flew off to what Naruto assumed was a Zeta-Tube in Metropolis.

" _J'onn,"_ he said telepathically getting the Martian's attention.  _"Link me with Dinah there's something I wanted to ask her but not within Clark's long proximity of hearing."_

J'onn smiled and nodded. A moment later he heard Dinah's voice in his head.

" _What is it Naruto?"_ said Dinah. He could tell by her tone that she was a tad worried. Not surprising since he asked to talk to her telepathically.

" _Its just an observation but I kinda noticed their interaction and it seemed more intimate then just friendship."_ he said. The two of them looked at each other with an odd look.  _"Am I missing something here?"_

" _Diana and Clark have been close friends pretty much since they first met. A couple of years before the League when she, Superman and Batman stopped a plot by Ra's al Ghul. Ever since the League formed and expanded we've all kind noticed what you noticed tonight Naruto."_ Dinah explained.

" _Hence why she calls him Kal. I'm assuming that's his Kryptonian name."_ said Naruto.

" _Yes. Kal-El."_ said J'onn.  _"She was the first person he told of his true name. She believes that name fits him as well as Clark but she likes calling him Kal better. She think it fits better in her mind though she see's no distinction. Another sign of their attraction is it seems whatever problem they seem to face their first reaction is to either talk to each other and in battle they work best together and watch each other's backs."_

**'Equal partners.'** said Kurama careful to keep the mental shields up so that J'onn did not sense him.

" _I see. And here I thought he was seeing that Lois Lane woman."_ said Naruto.

" _That was a sore subject. He found out that she seemed more interested in the part of him that was Superman rather than the rest. Diana also had a human attraction to a man named Steve Trevor but he had trouble adapting to the world that we live in and the fact that he seemed out of place with her."_ said Dinah.

" _Well if they seem like a good match why don't they just go ahead and start dating already? Seems kinda obvious how they are meant of each other."_ Naruto stated.

" _You are not alone in that regard. However, the reason is quite simple. They don't want to lose their friendship."_ said J'onn though the shinobi could see the reason for it was silly to say the least. Even Naruto from just one observation could tell that the friendship they had built with each other was the strongest of foundations to have a relationship beyond being friends.

Something that he himself wished he could have had. He shook his head as they were still linked and did not want J'onn or his fellow blonde Dinah to pick up on his sadness.

"Well if that's all I will see you two later." said Naruto out loud.

"Take care Naruto." said J'onn. He nodded and flew up back to Mount Justice.

"That was rather abrupt." said Dinah shaking her head. She was not used to mind linking as the Team was. It was still a rather strange feeling for minds to be so intertwined with each other. She to J'onn who was looking at Naruto leaving.

"Indeed." said J'onn. "It seems like Clark and Diana he too keeps his emotions well hidden."

"You picked up on that too." said Dinah with her arms crossed.

"Yes but something else. When we were linked I could sense his mental shields. As if he was keeping something hidden though I could not tell what it was. I did not pry into his mind but I could sense it. Not that I could find out in any case." said the Martian.

"Really?" said Dinah know how powerful and skilled a telepath he was.

"Yes. His mental defenses are the best I have ever seen. Even on Mars I only knew a few with such defenses but never as potent as his." said J'onn.

Dinah nodded as she thought about what her friend had said as he flew her a Zeta-Tube to go home. Questions that had been at the back of her mind since she started sparring with Naruto were coming to the surface. She knew there was more to the young man that was clear when they saw him fight Amazo. But now knowing that someone like J'onn would not be able to read his mind even if he wanted to made it all the more apparent.

_'What else don't we know about you Naruto Uzumaki?'_

**(Belle Reve Prison)**

Superboy kept pounding away at the wall hoping to get to M'gann in time before Killer Frost and Devastation kills her. He had managed to trick his "partner" Icicle Jr. into reactivating the collar and now he could concentrate on breaking this wall.

That is until Mr. Freeze, Mammoth and Blockbuster showed up.

"I went back to the warden's office. Hook and Abra were taken out by ice before the collars came back online. Me, your father, and Cold were with me so that leaves the two of you."

"What are you talking about?" Icicle Jr. questioned. "We stopped the collars from turning back on! Oh and your welcome!"

When Freeze glared at the young upstart Superboy saw his chance.

"Don't you get it? It just like what we saw in the cafeteria. He's making his power play against your pa." he whispered to Icicle Jr.

It was then that they stared each other down with the same thought in their minds.

"Traitor!" they both yelled and fired ice at each other while the two bruisers went after the Boy of Steel in disguise.

Superboy managed to fend of both his attackers redirecting Mammoth's punch by grabbing his fist with both hands and throwing back at Blockbuster. However he saw that while Icicle Jr. had raw power Freeze had more experience using ice with whatever tech he had in his suit to compensate.

"How bout we switch dance partners?" he asked.

"Deal!" said Icicle. From there Superboy leaped into the air and crashed his fist into freeze smashing his helmet.

Freeze realizing that his suit was compromised he knew only one way to survive was to fire ice onto himself. It would keep him alive but it would immobilize him.

Superboy turned see his "partner" having contained the other two with his ice powers.

"I can't hold them forever." he called out.

"Don't need to." said the Boy of Steel as he ran shoulder first into the cracking wall and finally plowed through.

After the dust settled he saw two women who he knew were Killer Frost and Devastation.

"Well well its the brother. Care to share with sister Tuppance's fate?" said Frost. It was statement not a question as she gestured to M'gann in her disguise trapped in a cascade of ice.

Superboy gritted his teeth. First came grief, of what might have been if he just spoke of his now emerging feelings for her, then came the rages. His eyes were burning.

That's when he felt it again. The energy he felt in his room right before his shattered the wall while being away from it by a few feet. Like the warmth of the sun flowing through him.

An idea struck him. He took hold of the warmth and focused into his eyes. They felt felt like they were literately burning. When he opened them rather than emitting the beams of heat he'd intended, they'd instead begun to take in the infrared spectrum. The heat signature he saw from the both of them, albeit with Killer Frost being lower if only for a moment, filled his vision.

Until with a yell he looked directly at Devastation and blasting her with beams of extreme heat to all their astonishment.

Devastation was hit hard into the wall cratering it and falling to the ground. When it was over Superboy thought he had killed her but a groan from her told her she was still alive. Which given her background on fighting Wonder Woman he wasn't that surprised. Although her mid section was scorched.

He then turned to Killer Frost. The person who froze M'gann. Before she could react he punched her in the face with just enough force to know that she was out cold. As angry as he was he would not kill. It would shame what Dinah and Naruto had taught him about restraint.

He then turned to M'gann who was encased in ice and grief and despair soon started fill him.

"What the hell happened?" asked Icicle Jr. coming in after freezing the Mammoth and Blockbuster.

He looked to see what he thought was Tuppance frozen and that was enough to get him up to speed.

"Oh dude I'm sorry." he said with genuine sympathy. "And she was such a babe too."

Superboy was about to break the ice but the young punk stopped him.

"Hey don't you'll shatter her into pieces. Assuming she's even still alive."

With that Superboy in his grief spoke to her in his mind.

" _M'gann please. Don't leave me."_

Suddenly the ice cracked. It continued to crack until the ice fell apart with Miss Martian still disguised coming down face first.

Superboy rushed to her side and knelt down as she managed to get back up to her knees.

"How?" he asked.

"It was cold from where I came from on-" she started to say. It was then that the Kryptonian decided he didn't care as he caressed her face.

To her and Icicle Jr.'s shock he kissed her. Miss Martian's eyes widened but that was quickly dispelled as she closed her eyes and kissed back.

"Dude that's your sister!" the junior villain yelled out. That illusion soon came crashing down as Miss Martian transformed back to her normal form but they continued to kiss.

"Wait. If she's...then you're..." Icicle Jr. put a hand to his head. "Dad is going to kill me."

He saw the newly formed couple and before he could try anything he suddenly felt light headed and fainted to the floor.

All Miss Martian did after that was just moan softly.

**(Mount Justice)**

Conner and M'gann stayed in the ship after it had docked in the bay. After their impromptu make out session they had explained to the now former warden of Belle Reve Prison, Amanda Waller, of their mission. Waller was suffice it to say not please that the League would send two of its member into what was her prison without prior notification.

Fortunately the new warden, Dr. Strange, kindly thanked them for their service and sent his regards to the league.

"All I'm saying is that he was a bit creepy." said Conner to M'gann.

"Perhaps but he is still the warden. And hopefully Belle Reve will be back to normal with the inmates escape attempt foiled." said their leader. "In any case good work from the both of you."

The disembarked and both the martian and the Kryptonian alone.

"So does this mean we are together?" he asked rather shyly and quietly.

M'gann smiled.

" _After that kiss we just shared? Definitely."_ she said to him telepathically while reach out and bringing their hands together.  _"But if its okay with you I kinda want to just keep this between us for now."_

" _With Wally's mouth that's probably a very good idea. Not that we have anything to hide it just I think we want this to be just ours. Not the Team's."_ said Conner who then rubbed his right hand on her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and the two's faces were getting closer when Conner heard two foot steps coming.

" _We got incoming."_ he said.  _"Rain check?"_

" _Its a date."_ she said with a tone and with their link he could feel the excitement at that word. She waved and flew off.

Conner turned to do the same until he saw who was coming. Naruto and Superman.

**'Well something happened.'** said Kurama.

_'What do you mean?'_ Naruto asked.

**'I mean he's happy which would be a first. Its guarded though which is unusual.'**  said Kurama.

Naruto noticed that M'gann left not long after he and Clark were walking to the hangar. Naruto wasn't that oblivious and had to contain a small smile at the probability of what he was thinking.

_'Then his day is about to get even better.'_

Clark, in full uniform, walked up to his clone.

"I understand that you and M'gann managed to stop a prison escape today." he said.

"Yeah. Good thing none of the guards were okay. Though Amanda Waller was forced to resign as warden." said Conner.

"In any case you did good work." said Clark.

"Thanks." said the younger Kryptonian surprised at the sudden praise from the person who had been keeping his distance from.

"How did you know what had happened in Belle Reve?" Conner asked.

"Word travels fast here Conner you should know that." said Naruto. An awkward silence fell between them as Naruto waited for one of them to further the conversation.

"So I heard you have a name now. Something besides Superboy." said Clark scratching the back of his head.

"Uh yeah. Conner Kent." said Conner.

"My secret identity is Clark Kent." said the Man of Steel.

Conner's eyes widened at what that meant.

"I didn't know. I wouldn't have-"

"Its alright." said Clark putting a calming hand on his shoulder. "Truth is I'm glad Conner Kent. Its feels right."

This made the boy smile. Both at the gesture and what appeared to be the acceptance of the man he wanted to be.

"Look Conner I know I have been cold to you. Mainly because I was afraid that people behind the project of your creation would do with my DNA. But I should not have taken it out on you. I'm sorry for that." said Clark.

"Thank you Superman." said Conner.

"Please call me Clark or Kal. After all we are family." said Clark. Naruto could tell that Conner was trying to restrain himself from crying out in joy over him saying that.

"So wait when you mean family are we talking father and son or like brothers?" the young man asked.

"I would prefer brothers mainly cause appearance wise it would be kinda hard to sell." said Clark in a way to briefly explain why.

"No I like that. Its actually a lot better then the alternative." said Conner. "So does that mean I get to punch you if you get out of line or something?"

"You didn't say he could make jokes." said Clark to Naruto.

"He's learning. Though I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to risk a hurt hand." said Naruto.

"I might be stronger than you might think." said Conner getting both of their attentions. "Today during the prison break I though M'gann was in trouble and I don't know but I felt this energy from within me and suddenly I was able to use heat vision on Devastation."

The surprise showed on both of their faces.

"Is this similar to what happened in your room?" asked Naruto to which Conner nodded.

"What happened?" Clark asked. Conner gave a quick explanation of how he managed to punch his room's wall while he was standing a few feet away from it.

"I think its best that we go somewhere where I can analyze Conner and get an idea on why this is happening." said Clark.

"Where?" asked the Boy of Steel.

"North." said Clark with hint of mystery in his tone. "Naruto you gonna have to carry him since there isn't a Zeta-Tube where we are going."

Naruto and Conner looked at each other with the same question: Where were they going and why was it north?

**(North Pole)**

"If someone told me I would going to the North Pole and entering the fabled Fortress of Solitude today I would have called them crazy." said Naruto as they entered the crystal fortress. The last remnant of the engineering feats of Krypton.

Both Naruto and Conner stood in awe of the fortress both from outside and when they entered the awe was became even more intense as they walked the halls. The thing that got their attention was the statues of what the both assumed was Clark's birth parents.

"Jor-El and Lara." said Naruto to Clark's surprise.

"How did you know their names?" he asked.

"My predecessor, Tomar-Re, knew your father before Krypton's destruction. He even tried to help, though it was too late." said Naruto.

"We're going to have to talk more about that." said Clark. "In the mean if you would both follow me."

They did so before they heard a strange sound.

"Is that barking?" asked Conner.

"Oh yeah. I don't often have guests here and there is one defense mechanism that I can never turn off." said Clark.

That defense he talked about came running towards them at super speed and landed in front of the two of them in the form of a giant wolf dog with a red collar that had a gold S shield hanging off it growling at them.

"Meet Krypto. Krypto this is Conner and Naruto." he introduced.

Naruto was not scared easily but seeing this dog look at them like enemies did make him a little intimidated.

"Don't worry. Just let him give you both a sniff. He's a pretty good judge of character." said Clark with no small amount of pride.

"You first." said Naruto. Conner just shrugged and laid out his hand for the dog the smell it. After a second Krypto leap on to him. Naruto was concerned but only a moment before he saw the dog licking Conner's face.

The Boy of Steel laughed.

"Okay okay." he said petting him on the head. "I like you too."

"Should've had Krypto check you out sooner Conner. Might have helped me get my head out of my ass." said Clark. "Now that you are acquainted with him come with me I have chamber that we can use to scan you. We'll talk while Naruto and Krypto do the same thing you did."

"Do I have to?" Naruto questioned remembering his not so good luck with animals in the past.

"Yes unless you want him growling at you." said Clark. Conner soon joined him and left the lantern with the superdog.

**'Don't be a baby. Who knows maybe your luck has turned around.'** said Kurama.

_'Yeah or more likely he's going to chomp my hand off.'_ Naruto responded as he reluctantly held out his hand to be sniffed by Krypto.

He did so and looked at with an odd look before licking his hand then rubbing his face on it. Figuring that he just wanted to be petted Naruto did so and the beast gave a pleased whine.

**'See not so bad.'** said Kurama. All too soon though Krypto jumped on him and was licking him on the face as well. Naruto couldn't help but laugh as it seemed that the dog wanted him to get comfortable with him first before licking his face off.

"You're a smart one aren't you?" said the shinobi getting him to a kneeling position and rubbing the dog's face with both hands.

"Lets see what you're master and his brother are up to shall we?" he asked. Krypto nodded excitedly and ran off to where Clark and Conner were.

Conner was being scanned by two crystal spheres with Clark on a console with holoimages showing images of what Naruto assumed was the boy's readings. The spheres soon stopped and traveled back to whence they came.

"Well I think I might know why you're getting new powers." said Clark pulling up the image of Conner's x-rays only far more detailed. In the image they saw what appeared to be some kind of aura that was surrounding him.

"What is that?" asked Conner. Clark answered.

"Along my dense molecular structure I also radiate a bio-electric around me. Its meters from my own skin. Hence why bullets and other object that hit me don't destroy my suit. Only magic and projectile, solid or energy based, strong enough has broken through it. What you're seeing is something similar to that effect."

"So how does him getting this aura give him new powers?" asked Naruto.

"That's the part I'm confused about. He already had the aura." said Clark which also made the two of them both confused. "Technically Conner you're body is a close physical match to mine. However, its your brain that's the problem. It has too many human neural portions to properly access all of your powers instinctively." at this Conner nodded. Naruto noticed that Conner wasn't disturbed at finding out his human half was holding him back.

"I told him about him being half-human and where the genes came from before we started the test." said Clark

"Yeah. To say I'm disturbed by the fact that I got Luthor DNA in me is an understatement." said Conner. "But I managed to use heat vision today so what changed?" he continued getting back on subject. Clark and Naruto thought about it for a moment.

"What were you feeling during that time?" asked Naruto.

"Well anger at first." Conner began. "I clinched my eyes and then suddenly like in my room I felt this energy inside me. Like I was feeling the sun. Next thing I know I open my eyes and my infrared vison activated at first but then it got brighter until I saw nothing but red. Next think I know I'm blasting Devastation in the chest.

Clark looked at the readings again.

"I think I might know how this has happened. You're aura has always been active but you're brain could never process it. Somehow though you managed to instinctively access you're solar energy reserves and through that activate a kryptonian power." he explained. "The question is how did this even happen?"

"I think I might have the answer." said Naruto. "Some time ago I gave Conner some of my chakra."

"Chakra?" Clark questioned. "Is that the name of the energy circulating through you through the second circulatory system you have?"

This made Naruto's eyes widen.

"How did you know that?"

"During your fight with Amazo I did an x-ray on you to see if there was anything being broken and I saw the energy traveling through your body via the system you use. I can see it now flowing through you though its different then when I saw you fight Amazo. Like it had something extra during that fight." Clark explained.

"Yeah you could say that." said Naruto rubbing the back of his head not wanting to explain that he was in Sage Mode which combined nature energy with his chakra or senjutsu so decided to get back on topic quickly.

"Chakra is made up of both physical and spiritual energy." Naruto explained. "From what you are saying my guess that the spiritual side of it must have acted as a go between for Conner's mind and body thus allowing him to bypass his mind's limitations."

"What does that mean exactly?" asked the Boy of Steel.

"It means that you can access your reserves of solar power instinctively now and thus have access to your powers but you still need to do it purposefully. In conclusion you need to know where you can put the energy in order to access your powers. Case in point your eyes." said Clark.

Conner thought about it for a moment before realizing what his new big brother was talking about.

"I channeled it into my eyes which gave me heat vision." he said.

"Exactly." said Clark.

"So will I be able to use others? Super breath, even flight?" Conner asked excited.

"In time yes. You can even channel that energy to augment your speed and strength. Not my level but the process is similar enough to the way I use solar energy that I can teach you how and to access more than one power. It will take time though but between me, Naruto and Dinah I'm sure we can help you reach your potential Conner." said Clark

"So when can we start?" asked Conner.

"Next week. If that's alright with what you and Dinah had planned." said Clark turning to the young lantern.

"Sounds alright to me. I will confer with Dinah but I don't think it will be a problem." said Naruto.

"Great." said Clark turning back to Conner. "During that there are few more members of our family you should meet Conner. Those that raised me and where we get the Kent name. I'm pretty sure you're gonna love them."

Naruto could see the smile that Conner had on his face continue to grow at how Clark said his words. "Our" family he had said.

"So I guess I will see you back at the cave." said Naruto walking back the way they came in while petting Krypto good bye and flying off.

**'I think that went very well. Conner's gotta be on cloud nine right now.'** said Kurama.

Naruto said nothing but he agreed with his partner. But now he had someone else curious about his powers. And could see how they worked with with his eyes no less.

**'He's not the Bat. He's not going to ask questions unless it pertains to his new sibling.'** said Kurama.

_'Yeah you're probably right.'_ said Naruto. Still having one of the most powerful beings on the planet if not the universe be curious about him might raise more curiosity.

**(LexCorp)**

Luthor was looking at a video that his fellow Light member, Doctor Strange, had sent over to him. The video seeing Superboy use heat vision on Devastation.

Suffice it to say that he was curious and disturbed by this development of his "son". Before Doctor Desmond became Blockbuster he had informed him that they were nowhere near developing the boy's powers beyond strength, speed, hearing, and infrared vision. So how was it that he had heat vision now? And why wasn't it without any help to suppress his human genes?

The billionaire rubbed his chin. Something had changed. Something they had missed. For now he would advise more caution with the Team and try to find out more from their source on the inside and continue with their plans.

That was all they could do for now.

**End Chapter.**

_To say I'm sorry for the long wait would be an understatement but I can only say it again. The good news is now I work a night shift job which isn't nearly as draining as my last so that should mean more writing from me from now on. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I also want to say that we have more original content with Naruto in the next chapter._

_On a side note please look up Rebirth of the Faint Smile and its sequel Legend of the Faint Smile. My beta qtar1984 also beta reads those and he asked me to do a shout out for those so be kind and take a look at those._

_Another thing I should mention is that the author of those stories, Astral Miscreant, is holding a poll to continue the story or not. Please vote yes._

_Thank you guys again for your support and for reading this fic._


	19. Conspiracies and Lost Relations

Dinah continued to press her attack doing her best to try and breach Naruto's defenses. He in turn was deflecting, blocking and dodging everyone of her attacks then moved to counter as he blocked a right fist from her, spun, and hit her with a back hand to the face. Before he could press the attack she twisted with the momentum and used a spinning back kick to his jaw sending him back.

The two went back to their fighting stances with Dinah breathing heavily but her opponent still seemed as fresh as ever despite the sweat on his brow.

Kaldur, Robin, and Wally stood watching the two combatants as they sparred against each other.

"Are you still certain of Dinah''s victory." the Atlantean asked Robin.

"Hey she's right up there with Batman in terms of fighting skill. She can still win this." he said though in a tone that suggested that he wasn't all that sure of his prediction.

"I don't know, she's looking pretty tired." said Wally.

The two of them had woken to find Naruto and Dinah sparring against each other. For a while the contest was even. Kaldur had apologized and they were going to take their leave but both of their trainers told them it was alright to watch. Neither of them had declared their sparring matches to be a private thing plus it might motivate them to improve their own skills even further.

The two went at it again and it was close to afternoon. Normally they would stop to a draw or if Naruto would beat her but Dinah was determined today to win her first sparring match with the shinobi.

_'Easier said then done.'_ the heroine thought to herself. She knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill battle. Naruto was very well versed in combat and his stamina was off the charts. She knew that a prolonged battle would not be to her benefit. At the beginning of the match she moved for a quick victory with a series of jabs with a right hook. Naruto stopped her barrage and moved with his own storm of kicks and punches which she dodged for the most part but one or two got through which forced her on the back foot.

Then that she tried to recover by going for a leg take-down to force him the ground but he jumped away when she knelt, indicating that he knew what she was going to try. When she went for the other leg he used a palm strike to her in gut that emphasized the point. He moved in with a right hook which she managed to catch with both arms and tossed him to the ground but he got up too quickly before she could manage anything.

And so it went. Naruto had played to his game plan brilliantly with them striking out each managing a hit but neither gaining an advantage so far in this match.

_'And he says he's not the best in taijutsu.'_ she thought to herself as jabbed several times before going for a side kick to the face. The punches he dodged and blocked the kick moving for a kick to left leg forcing her to back off.

She was getting sloppy and she knew it. Half of it was exhaustion the other half frustration. But she was determined to make this the first time she won their sparring matches if only to say that she got the best of him this one time.

These sessions started with a bargain. Now it was a weekly routine that she relished. Oliver never gave her this much trouble in their sparring sessions. It was exhilarating what they did on a weekly basis but she wanted to go for at least one win in her column.

In a split second after this Naruto charged and grabbed trying to take her down. Dinah used the momentum to flip over him, grab his arm and got him on the ground with his right arm in her arm-bar. She put the pressure on the ligament more so then usual because she knew he could handle it.

Even so Dinah was hoping with the amount of pressure she was putting he would tap out. Instead he lifted his arm a bit taking some of the pressure off and managed to get to his feet. He then lifted his arm and slammed her into the ground. She held though and kept the lock so Naruto slammed her into the ground again harder and managed to get her to loosen the hold. Dinah was on the ground but managed to raise her head to Naruto kneeling with his hand stuck out in front of him.

"Lets call this a draw now before one of us gets seriously hurt." he said taking a small breath shaking his arm trying to get feeling back into it.

Dinah panted and looked a bit frustrated but took a deep breath and nodded.

"I thought I had you this time. But it was a bit desperate I admit using that maneuver."

"It hurt like hell for a moment." said Naruto.

"Dude!" said Wally suddenly. "I saw how much pressure she put on your arm. She could've broken it."

"I'll bet she has broken a few arms with many maneuvers including that arm-bar." Naruto responded. "But pro shinobi are made of somewhat sterner stuff."

"Even so I had hoped it would make you tap." said the heroine leaning on her left arm to look at him since she didn't feel like getting up.

"It did hurt. I would still take a broken arm instead of giving up but that's just me"

The shinobi stood up then and gave a hand to Dinah. She just laughed, took it, and was helped to her feet.

"Anyone know what time it is?" Dinah asked while rubbing her neck.

"Its about three pm." said Kaldur.

"Great." she groaned. "I have a date with Ollie tonight. I'm going to be sore as hell."

"Would you mind turning around please?" Naruto suddenly asked. Dinah curiously did so. The others saw Naruto's hands glowing green and moved them across her back. Almost immediately the pain and soreness she felt from their latest contest disappeared. When he was done he backed away.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Much." she said with a thankful smile. "Is there anything your chakra can't do?"

"I'll let you know." Naruto joked.

"In any event I better go. Its getting close to when I meet with Ollie for dinner. I need to get ready." said Dinah.

"Of course." he said. "Have fun tonight."

"Thanks." said Dinah. "Personally though I hope you have some fun yourself Naruto. While I think we both enjoy our sparring sessions I don't think that is the only thing you enjoy."

"Yeah man." said Wally interjecting himself into the conversation. "Aside from when you took Dinah, Conner, and M'gann out to dinner that one time you are hardly ever out of the cave."

"My sector of space has kept me busy for two years Wally. Besides, most of the fun I seem to have is on my home world. Whenever I get there that is.".

"Even so there is things to do here on Earth when you have time." said Kaldur.

"Though I would think with a planet full of ninja I doubt you get bored often." said Robin.

"You're not wrong there." said Naruto thinking of his homeworld. It wasn't long after the Gokage had approved of the treaty between Ajnin and Xudar that they took it to the Daimyo to be officially approved. While they had reservations of making such a treaty with another race but ultimately had decided the benefits far outweighed the worry.

The Gokage reminded them that it was only a matter of time before other races became more aware of their world. Especially after Naruto had gained the title of the Hero of the Betrassian Blitz. That along with his deeds made them even wonder why it had taken as long as it did for another race from their sector to approach them.

Naruto was roused from his thoughts as Wally mentioned something else.

"For all we know he's got a girlfriend waiting from him at home to."

"Actually I have never had the pleasure of having a girlfriend." said Naruto. To his surprise that made them all look at him with wide eyes.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"We are sorry Naruto. Its just we kind of find that hard to believe." said Kaldur.

"Why?" Naruto questioned. "I'm more than a little busy as you all pointed out."

"That still doesn't answer the question." said Dinah frowning. "From what I've seen of you, and this is just me pointing this out, you would be quite the catch for any woman in just about anywhere I would think if you stopped and gave them the chance."

The shinobi started to feel his face heat up at how casually she was saying this.

"Don't you have to get ready for you date!?"

Dinah sighed.

"You're right." she said. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief before she glared at him. "But this conversation isn't over. See you later."

With that she walked into the Zeta-Tube and was gone.

Naruto stood there grumbling.

**'That is one battle I think even you will have trouble winning.'** said Kurama.

_'Put a sock in it furball!"_ said Naruto.

"She's got your number." quipped Wally with a smirk. Kaldur and Robin glared at their friend before suddenly getting some distance from. The speedster looked to see Naruto giving him a death glare.

"Seeing as how you got energy to talk Wally, how about we get some exercises in juking again. You're still lack some finesse with it."

Wally gulped.

It was at this instant that Naruto's ring starting beeping.

"Yes?" he answered.

" _Naruto, it's me, Natu."_ said the voice of the lantern's specialized doctor.

"Natu?" asked Robin.

"A friend from the Corps." Naruto answered. "What is it doctor?"

" _I know that this is the time for you monthly visit to your home world. Are you on your way?"_ she asked.

"I was going to take care of some business first." he glared at Wally. "But I can on my way now and be there quickly. Is there something wrong?"

" _Not anything involving the planet but there is something that you need to come home to see."_ she said.  _"It something of a time issue."_

"I'll be there as soon as I can." said Naruto turning the rings comm off. "Looks like you have your stay of execution for now Wally but when I get back from visiting home training is order."

And with that Naruto transformed into his uniform and flew off towards the nearest docking bay.

"Great." said Wally dreading when the shinobi would return.

**(Above Ajnin's orbit)**

As Naruto flew above his home world he looked around and scanned the nearby orbit.

_'No sign of any ships or species that I know of that would want to do Ajnin harm. At least not yet.'_ he thought as checked his ring to confirm what he already seem to notice.

**'Strange then that Natu would have a sudden urgency for you to make you're visit home.'** said Kurama.

Naruto shook his head and flew down to his home planet. As he did so he decided to fly to the hospital and land there rather then just land on the ground. Even though it was still in the morning and people were just now coming out of their beds for work he didn't want to risk being spotted.

**'Are you flying there because you don't want to be swarmed by your fans again? More specifically the female variant of those fans?'** Kurama joked already knowing the answer as Naruto grumbled.

"Natu I'm here where are you?" he asked not bothering to respond to his partner.

" _I'm just going into the hospital meet me there."_ she said. From there Naruto looked around from the air. Seeing it safe he landed on to the hospital, transformed back into his civilian attire and quickly walked into the building where Natu was waiting for him in the front room.

"Okay doctor what is this about? Not that I don't like to come home but what was so urgent you had to bring me to the hospital?"

Natu to his surprise had a small smile.

"Nothing to be concerned with Naruto. One of the patients here wanted to speak with you face to face." she said.

This confused Naruto more as they moved to one of the room in the main wing.

"Did you bring him dear lady?" asked the voice of an old man as they opened the room. Naruto looked to find the owner of the voice to be an old but well preserved man laying in bed. He had what appeared to be long greyed hair with red streaks wrapped up into a pony tail and had brown eyes. His appeared to be in better shape then most men who from what the shinobi could see was approaching his nineties. Maybe even his hundreds.

"Okay is someone going to let me in on the joke?" he asked.

The old man laughed. "Ha! You didn't tell him who I was did you miss?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." she said with a now full smile.

"Wanted what to be a surprise?" said Naruto.

"The fact that you have another relative to meet." said the old man. "My name, young man, is Yuudai Uzumaki."

Naruto stood there for a moment as his eyes widened in realization.

"You're one of the survivors of the Uzumaki clan."

"Of our clan. Yes Naruto I am." said Yuudai.

"I'll leave you two alone." she said and she left the room her job done.

There was a moment of silence between them before Yuudai started to cough for a bit. Naruto quickly moved to get a class of water and gave it to the elder Uzumaki.

"Thank you my boy." he said downing the drink. "I'm sure right now that you have many questions."

"That's an understatement." said the young shinobi. "My first I guess is why now? Why come to Konoha after all this time?"

"Why else?" he said incredulously. "To meet my young clan member who has pretty much saved this world from itself and from what I have heard became something more."

He gestured to the ring that Naruto was wearing.

"And I wanted to know what it like? Being up there in the stars seeing other worlds and meeting new people that are not like us."

"There are a lot of people like us out there in the galaxy. And there are those who are not." said Naruto pulling up a chair to sit in next to his long lost clansmen. "There are those who resemble us in human form and those that are so different physically its hard to believe that we are in the same universe. But from I have seen so far many of them want the same things as us. And there are a few that want more then their fair share of the galaxy. As a Green Lantern I protect those who can't defend themselves and try to make peace where I can between neighbors. Not much different when peace was made between the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Only difference is in scale."

"Scale?" the old man asked.

"Instead of countries its worlds. Whole planets could be at war with each other and we as Green Lanterns have to try and stop it. Sometimes we succeed sometimes we don't. We still have to try." said Naruto.

"I get the feeling you've had more successes then failures young one." said Yuudai with a proud smile.

"Maybe." said Naruto. "But success can bring about it own problems. I was sent out of my sector and now am stuck on one planet because of my success on one world and for secrets that I withheld from the Guardians."

"How so?" asked Yuudai.

"My chakra and my power ring have a symbiotic thing going. My chakra gives more power to the constructs I can create and in turn the ring gives more power to my chakra." Naruto explained.

"And given that you are the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails-"

"Kurama." said Naruto interrupting him. "That's his name."

"Apologies." said Yuudai remembering hearing that the Tailed Beast inside Naruto and Naruto himself had formed an unlikely friendship. "But assuming since you are a Jinchuriki to Kurama I would expect that you're chakra would be far more potent."

Naruto nodded.

"Have you tested the boundaries of you're abilities with the ring?" the old Uzumaki asked.

"Not yet." said Naruto. "We have gone to a certain extent but as for our full power me and Kurama decided to keep that for the dire emergencies."

"Understandable and wise of you." said Yuudai. "But obviously problematic given that our race is new to the galaxy as it were. I'm still trying to process that by the way."

"I've been out there in the stars for two years but its still a mystery to me." Naruto joked.

"And now from what I hear that mystery will be the rest of out peoples to explore." said the old man with smile. He then went into a coughing fit.

"Are you alright?" he asked as the elder Uzumaki's coughing subsided.

"Yes." he breathed. "And no. I'm dying Naruto."

This made Naruto's eyes widened.

"Don't look so surprised. Our clan has always been known for our vitality myself included. I have lived for over two-hundred years. I saw the violence of the Waring Clans era and the formation of the Elemental nations. I saw our clan fall and scatter to the winds. Finally I saw the chaos of the Fourth Great Ninja War, and the new peaceful age our world has finally arrived at. Yet I am not immortal. Twilight is upon me and soon night will fall." said Yuudai.

"But we've only just met." said Naruto seeing how unfair the situation was it seemed. Yuudai placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I still have some time left. According to your Doctor Natu was it despite my long years I am in relative good health. A year or so before old age finally catches me is what she estimated. Time enough for us to talk when we can." said Yuudai.

Naruto nodded and despite himself smiled at his long lost relative. It was then that the door opened and Natu entered.

"I'm sorry to interrupt guys but I heard coughing and wanted to check in on you Mr. Uzumaki."

"Please its Yuudai young lady." said the elder Uzumaki. "And it was just a coughing fit. Nothing some water and rest can't handle."

"That's good to know." said Natu who then turned to Naruto. "Naruto I should let you know that the Hokage wished to talk with you at your leisure."

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked.

"No but I get the feeling that whatever it is has to do with Ajnin going out into the universe. Which brings me to another subject. An ambassador from Xudar arrived along with Tomar-Tu and his engineering team for Ajnin's first ship. He wanted to meet with you and was rather incessant about it." said Natu with a bit of annoyance at mentioning of this person.

Naruto sighed.

"I will return to talk more with you Yuudai." said Naruto.

"I look forward to it." he said. From there both Naruto and Natu left the room and walked out.

"Thank you for letting me know so I could come early." said Naruto.

"I figured you would want to meet a fellow member of your clan. A clan that I might add that had seemingly died off." said Natu surprising the young shinobi.

"How did you know that?" said Naruto. "And how much time have you spent being on Ajnin?"

"I admit I have been here quite often." said Natu. "Your peoples way of healing fascinates me Naruto. How you're chakra can be used to heal injuries and sickness even I at times thought impossible never ceases to amaze. On top of which the doctors here also ask me for what I do for patients whether its how I use my ring or whatever techniques that I have developed."

"And where do you stay at if you don't mind me asking?" Naruto asked.

"The Hyuga clan compound thanks to your friend Hinata." said Natu. "I also asked to learn a bit about their fighting style."

"But why? Most races don't even have chakra points." said Naruto.

"But they do have pressure points." said Natu in a lecturing tone. "All races have those, and they can either heal or incapacitate. I prefer to end a fight quickly and be able to deal the least amount of damage when possible."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

"As for how I knew about your clan being near extinction I have chatted with Tsunade while having a drink. She explained about how the Uzumaki's where attacked because of their ability with fuinjutsu. This history of the clan which she learned from her own grandmother."

"Mito Uzumaki." said Naruto

"Exactly." said Natu.

"Makes sense." said Naruto. "Sounds like you are having a grand old time here."

"Like I said whenever I can. The council for the most don't seem to like it but my time is my own unless there is an emergency." said Natu.

"In any case I better see to the Xudarian ambassador that came by. Where is he?" asked Naruto.

"In a new location if you can believe it. Thanks to the Hokage the Xudarians actually managed to build a new engineering research center here. Your people don't have a name for it yet but they have managed to start designing for the ship with what you provided them. It's past the ninja tool research facility you can't miss it." said Natu.

"Thanks doc. Be sure to keep an eye on Yuudai when you can." said Naruto as they got outside. From there he flew off to where she told him.

**'Natu has come to be really informed about Konoha since she started coming here on her off hours.'** said Kurama.

_'Yeah makes one wonder though. I don't think she would do so intentionally but do you think the Guardians might be using her for information gathering?'_ said Naruto not wanting to believe it. He liked Natu and she was great at being a doctor. Not just because of her skill but also for genuinely caring for her patients, her allies, and her friends.

**'I didn't sense anything that gave off that vibe. But then I wasn't actively looking for anything negative. Still, I don't believe she would be doing so on purpose nor stupid enough to be tricked into doing so.'** said Kurama.

Naruto shook his head.

_'I suppose you're right. This whole Light business and trying to find the mole in the team is making me paranoid.'_

**'Remember though: the paranoid survive.'** said Kurama.

_'But they don't live.'_ said Naruto thinking that was the way Danzo and Root were. From there he flew the rest of the way in silence.

**(Earth, New York)**

"This close I tell you Ollie." said Dinah using her hand in a pinching gesture. "This close I thought I had him."

Oliver smiled as he sat in front of her as she regaled him of her latest sparring match with the young man known as Naruto. They were having dinner at the Gramacy Tavern in New York at his suggestion. They had just gotten their orders and were drinking the Cabernet Franc red wine to which added to their current conversation.

"Sounds like this guy is tougher then most of us when it comes to hand to hand." he said.

"He is!" she exclaimed. "And he even said that he isn't the best of his world."

"Seriously?" he asked genuinely curious now.

"At least in the hand to hand department." said Dinah.

"Well its more than that given what we saw when he fought Amazo. And he even said he was holding back." said Oliver.

It was then that Dinah noticed they were talking shop again.

"I'm sorry." she said. "Here we are on a romantic date and we are talking about work."

He held her hand and kissed it.

"Its how we met Pretty Bird." he said. "I'm glad though that you found another punching bag instead of me."

"Yeah except he can punch back." she joked remembering their first sparring session and how she lead the Emerald Archer into thinking he was winning before trouncing him.

"How about what you guys have done with the rest of team?" he asked.

"Progress is going quickly. They are eager to learn. I especially like how Wally is going with his juking and learning to better utilize his speed. Whatever Naruto said to him must have stuck." she said.

"And your influence as well I'm guessing. You both are good for them." Oliver encouraged.

Dinah just shook her head.

"I think that's enough shop talk."

He agreed as their main courses came to their table. The two were having a good time. They had just left the restaurant when Oliver got a call from his cell phone.

"Just a minute Dinah." he said. Which was fine for her since being heroes they were still on call. However, she could see from his expression that something else was at work as his face went from relaxed to very tense.

"Are you sure?" he asked the caller. A minute later Oliver nodded. "Alright I will be there as soon as I can." he then hanged up the phone.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Just something I need to take care of Pretty Bird. I'm sorry but could you meet me at home? I will be there soon." said Oliver.

"Sure but if its a case-"

"Its not." he said suddenly catching her off guard. He took a breath to relax. "Its just something I got to confirm. It won't take long I promise."

Dinah could tell there was more to the story but she could also tell when her boyfriend was in defensive mode. She had never seen it with her though which was concerning. But she nodded and decided to respect his wishes.

"I will see you at home." she said kissing him.

"Yes he will." he said with some of his usual swagger back. As they parted though she could still tell that something about that phone call put him on edge.

She just didn't know what it was. More importantly she didn't know if he was going to tell her.

**(Ajnin)**

Naruto landed in what looked to be a recently made hanger. He could see crew from Xudar, the Ninja Tool Research Facility and from what he could see from the Tazuna's construction crew. The last group surprised him as he entered.

"Naruto!" he heard a voice call out. He turned to see the now young adult Inari with Tomar-Tu and one other Xudarian he didn't recognize.

"Hey guys." said Naruto as they walked to him. "I didn't expect you to still be here Inari."

"I can explain that." said the other Xudarian. "Myself with the Gokage and the Daimyo felt that more than a few of your people would help with constructing your people's first starship with the designs you sent us from Earth. Young Inari here was the fist to volunteer along with others from your ninja tools division."

"And you would be?" Naruto questioned.

"Ah where are my manners." the Xudarian held out his hand. "My name is Motar-Mu. I'm an ambassador for Xudar along with Tomar-Tu."

Naruto shook it. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine young Uzumaki. To help the people of the Hero of the Betrassian Blitz is an honor that no one should be denied.."

Naruto grimaced a bit.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"News has spread of what you did on Betrassus Naruto." said Tomar-Tu. "Even out this far from Frontier space you're deeds from that battle has become something of a legend."

"Great." said Naruto.

"Why so glum about it Naruto?" asked Inari. "You should be proud. You saved that world just like you save ours."

"The young man is correct." said the older Xudarian. "What you did for this sector before hand got our attention. What you did for Betrassus will begin to let other races know of yourself and more curious about your people. Be proud of what might await from your deeds."

"I am proud ambassador. Proud that I managed to save as many lives as I did. I'm also aware that not all that attention will be beneficial to my people." said Naruto.

"That's why we need to move forward Naruto." said Inari. "Like you said sooner or later we will be seen by the larger galaxy. And at the same time we need to start expanding ourselves and this ship is the first step in doing this."

"Which then begs the question." said Tomar-Tu. "Why did you get designs from Earth? Xudar has designs that could be used."

"Because Earth's technology is the closest to resembling ours. I figured it would be a good place to start before expanding to using our own designs." Naruto explained.

"Wise idea." said Tomar-Tu

"In any case I wanted to see the facility and to know what progress you have made on the ship." said Naruto.

"Well we should be finished with making the prototype by the end of the year and the first test flight should be done at the beginning of next year if by the Xudarians we have been working with say. They've been impressed with how quickly were able to pick up things but like you said the designs were from a race that is closer to us tech wise. Anything else is basically on a wait and see approach." said Inari.

"But we do have confidence that you people will get there." said Tomar-Tu.

"Very well." said Naruto. "I would stay longer but Kakashi-Sensei is waiting for me. See you later Inari. Good day gentlemen." he finished gesturing to his friend and the two Xudarians.

"Okay Naruto. Don't be a stranger." said Inari as Naruto took his leave.

Naruto left them to their devices and headed to the Hokage's office flying there but still in civilian clothes.

_'Well progress is on the way.'_ Naruto said to his partner.

**'You're nervous.'** said Kurama to which Naruto did not respond.  **'There's no shame in admitting it Naruto. The people of Ajnin are heading to a very unique period. One that has many treasures heading in its direction but not for the faint of heart. And it is a path that they must follow.'**

_'You're right.'_ said Naruto.

**'With that said I'm not sure about Motar-Mu. I get the sense that he might be up to something. His emotions were well guarded.'**

That statement got Naruto thinking about how the ambassador talked to him and how insistent he was about Ajnin moving forward.

_'Even from Tomar?'_ he asked.

**'Yeah.'** said Kurama.

_'Well that is something we should keep an eye on.'_ said Naruto as floated in front of one of the windows of the Hokage's office. Seeing Kakashi working on his laptop he knocked on the window. With a jump his old sensei turned to see him and Naruto could see him take a breath as he opened the window.

"Would it kill you to use the front entrance?" he questioned.

"This is faster." said Naruto floating himself in. The hokage just smiled under his mask

"Its good to see you Naruto." said Kakashi.

"Good to see you too Lord Hokage." said Naruto bowing to him in a flourishing manner.

"Please don't. A year has passed and I'm still having trouble with being called that." said Kakashi gesturing to the chair in front of the table.

"So what can I help you with Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Well as you know we are in the process of moving to the stars eventually. But from what I understand you are training your team as I once trained ours." said Kakashi stating the obvious.

"Yes. What is your point?" Naruto asked.

"My point is would you mind adding someone else to help train them?" asked Kakashi. That part caught Naruto by surprise.

"No but why would you want an instructor from this world to help me train the team?" Naruto asked.

"One thing that Tomar-Tu has told us that all worlds have in common is trade. Resources of just about any kind. What is one of ours besides what we have on our planet that most could probably get?"

"Combat." said Naruto answering the Hokage's question.

"Exactly. On top of that we can see what other martial art styles there besides our own. In case of the event we need to fight. Not to say that is our only option just the last one." said Kakashi. "In addition we can show off a bit what we can do."

"So in other words a cultural exchange of sorts." said Naruto. Kakashi nodded.

"Who did you have in mind?" asked Naruto already running the list of people that could assist him and Dinah.

"We are talking about taijutsu are we not?" Kakashi asked. Naruto frowned as his old sensei knew that.

It was then that the possibilities came down to one.

"He can be a bit weird though." said Naruto with a small smile.

"I'm sure you can manage." said Kakashi.

"Where is he?" said Naruto

"At the stadium where we hold the Chunin Exams. He's there with another old friend of yours hoping to settle an old score."

**(Chunin Exam Stadium)**

Naruto could hear the sounds of battle. As he got closer though he could hear the sounds of something hitting what he thought was sand.

He floated above to see two of his friends as he suspected fighting. One was Gaara of the Sand and the other was Rock Lee. He could also see that they had an audience with Shikamaru and Temari present in the stands.

Gaara was usually the calmest face on the battlefield as far as Naruto was concerned but today he was more than a little frightened. Reason being was his opponent going so fast that he could not see him except for like a green blur.

"Must have gone to the seventh inner gate to move this fast. Especially since Gaara is more powerful than the last time they fought." said Naruto floating down to where Shikamaru and Temari were shocking both of them.

"Damn it Naruto don't just float down so quiet like that!" said Temari. "I've got enough to worry about with Gaara facing Lee without just suddenly appearing!"

"Calm down I'm sorry." said Naruto putting his hands up in a placating manner. "So what are you doing here Shikamaru? Your shadow possession jutsu can't stop Lee's strength."

"I'm here for moral support for my girlfriend." replied Shika. Despite the situation Temari had a small smile from that before the arena shook. The three looked to see Gaara to seemingly cover himself in a ball of hardened sand. Almost like an inversion of Shukaku's shield given the shield like form on the front of it. Before the sand covered him Naruto could see the shell of Sand Armor that always seemed to be Gaara cracked and broken in more than a few places.

Lee on the other end of the shield was glowing green, face red, his eyes white as punched through the barrier inch by inch getting close to the main core.

"Let me guess this was Lee's idea." said Naruto looking to intervene if things got out of control which with Lee was a possiblity.

"Yeah he kept insisting and insisting upon this rematch. Said it would only be a friendly sparring session he said. I kept saying Gaara would not be interested but then he got him alone and my brother being such a polite fellow agreed to the idea." said Temari.

The crack they heard took them back to the battle. Or more accurately its end as Lee busts through the sand barrier that encases Gaara smashing him in the face. The sound of the attack echoing through the arena as the Kazekage is on the ground not quite unconscious but definitely exhausted bleeding from the mouth. Lee then powered down and saw that he was almost if not the same condition except for the fact that he was still standing.

"Gai-Sensei!" he yelled into the air. "You're training has finally allowed me to redeem myself!" he then looked down to Gaara and managed to calm himself down.

"Thank you for this chance Gaara. You have proven to be a most formidable opponent."

"Yes. Now can you please not try to kill the Kazekage. Or yourself for that matter. We don't need a war again after years of peace." said Naruto in a light tone but still some concern with Temari and Shikamaru helping her brother up.

"Its alright Naruto." said Gaara. "Lee has been asking for this rematch for some time. I figured it would be best to get it out of his system."

"Yes and again it is much appreciated." said Lee. "But what brings you here Naruto?"

"You actually." said the Lantern. "Kakashi-Sensei wants to begin a cultural exchange with other worlds. More specifically in this case the planet Earth for starters and you've been picked as the first "exchange student" I guess."

"Good idea but why Lee?" said Shikamaru.

"This is to be a martial arts kind of exchange. One that Lee is obviously well apt in. We can learn about different martial art styles with Earth being a good first place to begin this kind of cultural exchange with us learning from them and they learning something from us." said Naruto.

"Spoken like a true diplomat." said Temari. Naruto turned to Lee.

"So Lee are you interested in-"

"Yes!" said Lee jumping into the air exceedingly before winced and grasped his side from the injuries. "When do I leave?"

"I will come and pick you up when you've been looked at by Natu. And when you're injuries have healed obviously." said Naruto.

Lee then straightened up at the mention of the doctor's name.

"Lady Natu is the one who will examine me?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"You're damn right I am!" screamed the voice of Natu as she landed in front of the group with a thud glaring at Lee and Gaara but keeping her attention on Lee.

"You." she pointed at Gaara. "Are lucky you one of the leaders of your people."

"Lady Natu I can explain..." said Lee while wincing at the pain he was suffering now that the boost of power from the seventh seal of the Hidden Lotus had faded and the long known suffering of his body being pushed so far began.

"Save it Lee." she said surprising Naruto that she was on first name basis with his friend.

**'Wonder how many times she's had to patch him after training sessions?'** asked Kurama.

_'Judging by her glare more than once.'_ Naruto responded. "You two know each other?" he decided to ask.

"This one was coming back from one of his training sessions in one of the worst states of physical exhaustion and abuse I have ever seen. So I decided to help with healing him. Thank whatever god you people worship that your healing techniques are some of the best I've seen which helped me with his recovery. And now here we are again with you being in the worst state yet."

"I had to push myself though to get through Gaara's defenses and this was the only to do so." Lee tried to explain. "My lady..."

"Save it." she said. "At least it kills two birds with one stone." she then turned to Naruto

"I will do a full check up on him to make sure he is space worthy Naruto. Despite the abuse he puts it through he is usually in good shape so the odds are in his favor."

"That's Natu. Let me know when he's ready." said Naruto. Natu glared as Temari helped keep Gaara standing.

"I will go with you to help Gaara." she turned to Shikamaru. "See you tonight." she then kissed him much to the genius embarrassment and enjoyment. Natu then produced a bubble around the group turning to Lee.

"You're lucky you happen to be a good patient."

And with that they were off.

Shikamaru braced for teasing from the blonde shinobi but all he saw from Naruto was him looking up as they flew away to the hospital.

"When was the last time Lee ever called a woman 'My Lady'?"

Shikamaru was puzzled for a moment before realizing the same thing.

"Well isn't that interesting." said Shikamaru with a smile.

It was then that Naruto's ring was starting to blink.

"I gotta take this." said Naruto looking to his ring.

" _Naruto its Ganthet calling."_ said the voice of the kindly Guardian.

"What is it Ganthet?" Naruto asked worried on why he was being called by him.

" _Would it be possible for you to meet with Hal and myself on Mogo?"_ asked Ganthet.

"Sure but why not Oa?" Naruto questioned.

" _It would be best to keep what I have to say out of the council's ears. For now at least."_ said Ganthet.

"I'll be right there." said Naruto. From their the communication ended. "Looks like another reprieve from our annual game Shikamaru."

"Its alright. Next time." said Shikamaru. "But before you leave I got something from Iruka-Sensei that he wanted you to have back."

Naruto stood confused until he saw what Shikamaru presented in his hand.

"My ninja tool kit." said Naruto grabbing it with both hands. "Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment but my ring kinda covers me in weapons Shikamaru."

"Weapons yes. But what about medications or seals or anything else us ninja need?" asked the young Nara. "I get it, its not going to be you're biggest weapon but you are still a ninja. And you need all the options you can get."

What he said was true Naruto thought as he looked down at his tool kit. And with that thought he attached the took kit to his belt.

"Thanks Shikamaru." said Naruto "It doesn't let you off the hook though. And say thanks to Iruka-Sensei for me."

And with that he flew off into the air and into space.

"So looking forward to it." Shikamaru said sarcastically.

**(Mogo)**

Naruto was in full uniform as he landed on Mogo's surface.

" **Welcome Naruto."** said the voice of the planet.

"Thanks Mogo. Good to see you again." said Naruto. Immediately following him saying that he saw Ganthet and Hal Jordan float down to him.

"Hey kid. How's it going?" said Hal.

"Fine so far." said Naruto. "Can we get into why you wanted to meet with me on Mogo instead of on Oa."

"Figured it would be kinda obvious since the Betrassian Blitz that you needed to be away from Oa." said Hal. "The council has been more than a little interested as to how you managed to get there so fast and how you took the whole battalion of them along with two yellow lanterns."

"Hence the need to move you from Oa as soon as possible my boy." said Ganthet. "Unfortunately that might not be enough."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"Despite assurances the council is still investigating what happened during the Blitz. And I fear sooner or later they will learn out about you're chakra network and more about your own  **personal**  abilities." said Ganthet.

Naruto knew with the added emphasis that Ganthet put into his voice he was trying to subtly tell him about them finding out about Kurama and that he is a Jinchuriki. With that another question he needed to ask.

"Why did you really send me to Earth?"

Hal and Ganthet looked at each other.

"To be honest kid from my own and several other's experiences we don't exactly trust the council aside from Ganthet and Sayd. For my own part I don't always want the council to be involved with every decision that I make." said Hal.

"Makes sense. From what I gather it seems almost as if the Guardians, with their lack of emotion, either don't care, have their own agenda, or a combination of the two." said Naruto.

"Hence the reason we sent you to Earth. A planet containing some of the most powerful beings that even we the Guardians have ever seen. A place that could shield you if need be and if worse came worse be at your side." said Ganthet.

"So you wanted me to make allies then." said Naruto to which Ganthet nodded. "No offense Ganthet but the way you are talking makes me think you want me to prepare for war. Against your own kind. That isn't like you."

"I don't want a war Naruto. That's the last thing I want. But if such a day comes I feel better with you gathering your allies on Earth. As Hal said there are those among the Corps that have been suspicious of the council with reason after Scar's betrayal. At the same time there are those among the Corps that still believe in what it stands for and that the Guardian Council still upholds this. And concept that I fear might be vanishing or has vanished with the passage of time since we first founded the Green Lantern Corps millennia ago." Ganthet explained.

**'I have to agree with Ganthet here kid.'** said Kurama.  **'Fact is we need to be prepared if such a time comes when the council might try to dissect you to ascertain your abilities.'**

Much as Naruto loathe to admit it they were right. It was at this juncture that Hal touched his earpiece and Naruto could see his eyes widen under his mask.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"We need to get back to Earth now. Mount Justice fell under attack."

**End Chapter.**

_I suck at updating. I will freely admit it. I can't stress how sorry I am that these chapters take this long. All I can say to you all is thank you and assure that this story is not going to be abandoned. Even if it takes forever there will be an ending though I'm hoping that it won't take that long. Please know that going forward._

_Anyway thank you again for taking the time to read this chapter. I'm never truly happy with it but that's just me and I'm sorry for leaving a cliff hanger but there is a plan in place for the next one. Hope you all had a happy halloween and will see you all next c_


	20. Becoming the Alpha

When Naruto arrived at the cave, the damage was still being repaired. Since he figured the Zeta-Tubes were down he entered through the docking bay. There he saw the hole where Sphere must have hit a wall. Also there was J'onn and a person who Naruto figured was another member of the League. It took him a bit but he recognized him as Captain Atom from the battle with Amazo.

"J'onn." Naruto called out as he floated down to the Martian and Atom who were repairing a console.

"Naruto. It is good to see you return despite the current circumstances." said J'onn mentioning the damage from the attack.

"Can either of you give me some details? All I got from Hal is that Mount Justice was attacked. We rushed here under the assumption that it was still under siege." said Naruto.

"I can help with that." said Captain Atom walking towards them and holding out his hand. "We didn't get properly introduced. Captain Atom."

"Naruto Uzumaki. Green Lantern of Sector 2813." said Naruto taking the Leaguer's hand for a firm handshake.

"Well Naruto the attack was orchestrated by two androids who appear to have a similar design to Red Tornado. To make a long story short they had the Team on the ropes until Artemis managed to activate the EMP device via firing an arrow at the controls. It was then that Red Tornado showed up to examine the now deactivated androids only to then nearly suffocate the team and escape with his "siblings" Captain Atom explained.

Naruto took a moment to process the information.

' **So it looks like Red Tornado is the mole. But you're not convinced are you kid?'** said Kurama.

' _No I'm not.'_ said Naruto.  _'If he was why reveal it now? And why not just finish the Team right then and there? None of it makes sense.'_

"Where's the Team now?" asked Naruto.

"In the main hall with Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Superman and Captain Marvel." said J'onn.

"I'll join them there then." said Naruto nodding to both of them and flew off.

It took him only a few seconds to reach the main hall. And when he arrived he saw Conner holding Kaldur by the front of his uniform with an expression of anger as the others watched.

' **The boy isn't the only one who is angry at the moment.'** said Kurama.  **'There is concern for Kaldur too but it's colored with anger towards him as well. For what I don't know.'**

Naruto listened as he saw Superman move in and break them apart.

"Hey what's going on here?" asked the Lantern stepping in between them.

"Kaldur kept the fact that there might a be a mole in our team from us. A fact that nearly got M'gann and the rest of us kill when it turned out to be Red." said Conner.

"Allegedly, Conner." said his new older brother as Clark tried to calm him down. "We don't everything yet."

"How can you say that after what he did!?" he demanded.

"Because if he was, why now? And why didn't he kill you when he left?" Naruto said, voicing his own questions not just to Connor but to the rest of the Team. "If he was the mole, then he would have fully suffocated you. It's in his ability to do so. Instead he took enough air out of all of your lungs to just knock you out but still recover."

The rest then looked to each other processing what Naruto was saying.

"It does make sense." said Robin. "But it still doesn't take away from the fact that Kaldur lied to us. He didn't trust us."

"For the record I also had knowledge about the possibility of there being a mole." said Naruto.

"What!?" said Wally. "So you both kept this from us!?"

"Naruto wanted to tell all of you about the situation." said Kaldur suddenly. "But I ordered him not to say anything despite his reservations of it. He could have said something but at the time we both decided that a quiet investigation was needed to protect the Team."

"Protect us from what!?" asked Artemis. "Information that could save our lives?"

"Or risk them further by tipping the mole off." said Naruto.

"M'gann almost died Naruto!" said Conner.

"I understand that." said Naruto keeping a calm voice. "I was scared as well. But here you all are still alive and in one piece."

This got the Team to calm down somewhat as they looked to each other.

"Enough." said Batman making everyone turn to him. "With Red Tornado "missing" the cave will be monitored by rotating supervisors." he then gestured to a tall man with short black hair and blue eyes in a red costume with a short white cape and a lightning bolt in the center of his chest area.

"Captain Marvel will take the first shift." said Batman.

"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." he said cheerfully. Naruto noticed how he said hanging. Almost like he was talking to people his own age, which was strange for an adult.

' _Unless he isn't.'_ he thought to himself thinking about the times that he and others have used the transformation jutsu to pass as others which included outside their age groups. He turned his attention back to his teammates who while calmer still looked ready to take their leader's head off.

Conner then looked Kaldur straight in the eye.

"As soon as I'm done dismantling Red Tornado you and I will-"

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League." said Batman overhearing their conversation. "He is our responsibility. You will leave him to us."

"And have you found him or have any idea where he is located since the attack?" asked Naruto.

"Not yet." said Batman

"I know this is difficult for you but Batman is right. Red is Justice League so we will handle it for now." said Dinah trying to placate the young heroes.

"And because Batman has another assignment for the the Team." said Superman putting up the holo of a newspaper clipping although from what Naruto could tell of his reluctant tone he figured the Team was going to like it.

"Mayor gets attacked by Guerrilla Gorilla?" Wally read. "Are you serious right now?"

"Batman please. Don't tell me you're sending us on this joke of a wild gorilla chase." said Robin.

"I never joke about that mission." said Batman with his voice a few degrees more serious if that were even possible which got Robin to quiet himself.

"I've studied the patterns and checked the sources. Mayor Hill's attack is the latest of these incidents." he then turned to Kaldur.

"Aqualad your team will investigate." he said.

"Mind if I say something first?" Naruto asked.

"Are there any questions?" asked Batman.

"Not to be rude but I was talking to Kaldur and it involves the Team. Since you want to keep things separate." said Naruto. Batman frowned but nodded as he went his fellow League members. Naruto then turned to the Team with Kaldur standing next to him.

"Listen guys. I know that we have a new mission out. Not the one we wanted but if Batman says there is a pattern to these gorilla attacks then there is one. I also know that there is broken trust between us." he looked to Kaldur who tried to remain impassive. "But all the same we have a mission to complete. One that if so needed I will complete by myself if need be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Artemis.

"Exactly as I said Artemis." said Naruto. "Right now emotions are high and you don't seem to trust Kaldur to lead at the moment. Going into a mission right now with us not united can and may lead to disaster with us dead."

' **More like them dead then you kid.'** said Kurama.

' _Yes but they don't know that.'_ said Naruto.

"So as I said I can and will do this mission alone if need be. Personally, I'd rather not do that since a team can be better. But only when each of us is united and on the same page." said Naruto look at each one of his team members. They each looked at each other realizing the same.

"I will give you guys an hour to decide what you want to do. It's your decision on whether or not you think you can get a grip on what has happened and be able to trust each other." said Naruto turning and walked past the Leaguers to take a closer look at the report on the holo-screen.

"Heck of a speech you just put out." said Dinah.

"Had to try something to get them to listen." said Naruto with a sigh. "I told Kaldur that it was a bad idea keeping the fact there was a possible mole on the team. But since he is in command I decided to follow his judgement."

"You think you should have?" asked Dinah.

"Perhaps." said Naruto. "But I agreed with it because he explained that if there was a mole we shouldn't risk tipping him or her off."

"It's a moot point now." said Dinah.

"Is it?" Naruto asked. "You think that Red Tornado is the mole."

"What about you?" said Green Arrow cutting into the conversation.

"I think if Red Tornado was the mole he would have killed the team via suffocation. His powers would allow him to that. Instead he left them unconscious and left with his siblings. I don't believe the mole would have left it looking like he was certainly guilty."

Dinah smiled.

"Batman pretty much said the same thing you just did."

"But it doesn't matter right now." said Naruto knowing that he wouldn't be able to do much without the League's approval.

"With that said I gotta go." said Green Arrow walking to the Zeta-Tube.

"Where are you going?" asked Dinah following him as the tube activated.

"Still working on something." said Green Arrow. "I'll see you later Dinah."

And with that he was transported leaving a visibly frustrated Black Canary behind.

"I know it's none of my business but is there trouble in paradise?" asked Naruto.

' **Smooth. Real smooth.'** said Kurama sarcastically.

' _What? I'm just asking.'_ said Naruto though he admitted to himself the wording could have been better.

"I don't know." she said. "We were at dinner and then he got a call on his phone. He said it regarded a case he was working on."

"Not that unusual given our line of work." said Naruto. "I'm sensing a 'but' coming."

"But," she said with a smile at the lantern's wit. "He didn't bring me along or even told me what was going on. Which is weird since aside from being together we are also partners. Granted we each have solo missions but more often than not we are a team."

"So what makes this different?" asked Naruto.

"I tried to ask him about it when he got home but he just told me it was nothing. But he had this look on his face like something was worrying him. I ask he just changes the subject or stonewalls me." said Dinah sounding more frustrated and sad as she spoke.

"How long have you two been together?" asked Naruto.

"As a team or a couple?" she responded.

"Uh…" said Naruto scratching his head on how to proceed. "Both I guess."

Dinah just shook her head and smiled at the young shinobi.

"I'm sorry Naruto I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. To answer your question it's been almost four years. Over two of them being in the same apartment. And we've been a great team together in both regards which makes this distance that Oliver has put between us strange."

Naruto considered his next words.

"If he's working a case who would he go to for it?"

"Barry Allen. You would know him better as the Flash." said Dinah immediately which surprised Naruto.

"You just told me the secret identity of a superhero just like that?"

"I figured since you helped take down Amazo that you've earned it. The majority of the League shares that opinion." Dinah explained before gesturing to Batman who looked to be in communication with others of the League. "Most of us anyway."

"Well with that in mind I suggest talking to Mr. Allen about it." said Naruto.

"That's a bit direct though." said Dinah.

"If Green Arrow, a man who should trust you absolutely, is giving you the runaround than being direct about it with the other person who might be involve would be the best solution." said Naruto.

Dinah paced for a moment in front of him thinking what he had said. Another minute passed before she turned to look at him.

"Thanks Naruto. I think I will do that." she said. Through that she put a hand on his shoulder grateful for his advice and stepped into the Zeta-Tube.

"That was well handled." said another voice. He turned to see Captain Marvel walk up to him.

"I hope so I keep getting told that." said Naruto. He looked to see the Team approach him.

"We have decided to take the mission." said Kaldur.

"Well that's good to hear." said Naruto

"But there is going to be a change." said Wally. "We still have issues with Kaldur here. So for this mission we want you to lead us this time Naruto."

The young man blinked at hearing this processing this information.

"Pardon?" he questioned.

"Like he said. You even mentioned with our current issues it could get us killed. And even though you didn't tell us about the mole you at least you objected to not telling us. So we figure you should lead us on this mission." said Artemis. "Plus it's better than Wally leading us."

"Hey!" exclaimed the speedster.

Naruto facepalmed and rubbed his hand over his face. He could hear Kurama laughing at this situation in his head.

"And all of you are agreed with this arrangement?" he asked looking to each of them including Kaldur.

"We have." said Kaldur. Although sad at the lack of trust he had with the Team part of him was relieved. Naruto both in missions and training had proven to be more experienced than the rest of his friends. Even more so than Robin.

Naruto sighed.

"Fine. Just this once." he said not liking this. "Prepare yourselves and meet me at the bioship."

As they moved to the hangar Naruto looked at Conner.

"Conner hang back for a second."

The kryptonian half-breed did so with Clark walking next to him.

"I noticed you seemed concerned with M'gann earlier when you were about ram Kaldur into the wall." said Naruto.

Conner looked between the two of them.

"Like I said to Clark I was worried about all of us."

"But you mentioned M'gann first before the Team." said Clark. "With your voice raised, I might add."

Conner looked at the two of them. Naruto spoke next.

"Look dude we kinda guessed that your relationship with each other has gone past friends here. The two of you were making googly eyes at each other for days after your undercover mission to Belle Reve. And we know that you want to keep it a secret from the rest of the Team though to be frank you two suck at keeping it a secret." said Naruto "My worry is how it will effect the mission."

"What do you mean?" asked Conner.

"I mean that out there on mission she should be your teammate not your girlfriend. Not saying that you shouldn't be concerned for her because you can't help it. I am saying that you should show her the respect she is due." said Naruto. "If she needs help, your help, then she will ask. But if she doesn't then you being both a good teammate and boyfriend should honor that. Clear?"

Conner took a moment to consider what he was saying and took a deep breath.

"I understand." said Conner.

"Good." said Naruto. "Now get going I will meet you at the hangar." said Naruto.

Conner did so and left to join the others.

"Good luck." said Superman as Naruto flew after the others.

"Thanks." he said.

He moved to hanger just in time to see Conner tell Sphere to stay. He also saw Captain Marvel fly up next to him.

"Are you coming with us?" he asked.

"Sure. It'll be a blast." said the Captain.

"With respect Captain while you would be invaluable my Team can handle this." said Naruto. "It might be better to monitor us here in the cave in case we need to get in touch with you if we need help."

Naruto couldn't help but notice the look of disappointment on the hero's face but he nodded.

"Okay but only if you're sure." said Captain Marvel. "Don't hesitate to ask if you need help."

Naruto nodded in response.

"Still would have been fun."

"Next time." said Naruto. Captain Marvel seemed to perk up at this possibility and flew back to the main hall of the cave.

' _He's a kid.'_ said Naruto going over how the "adult" seemed to act and the kind of words he used. Plus the childlike excitement he seemed to have.

' **Yeah. I mean how many times did you or Konohamaru use a transformations jutsu to look like someone older?'** said Kurama.

' _More times then I care to count.'_ said Naruto with some embarrassment at the sexy jutsu both of them used. Shaking his head he looked to see Kid Flash and Robin were the last to get on board watching the scene unfold.

"At least someone here trust us enough to stand up for us." said Wally. Naruto knew they were talking about Aqualad.

"They'll get over it." said Naruto as they got on board and the ship departed out of the hangar.

**(India)**

They landed in the forest where the attacks were the most frequent per the intel that Batman had given them. With the ship cloaked they hover the landing zone where Robin and Artemis drop down via harnesses to scout the area for any potential threats. The others soon join them with M'gann, Kaldur, and Kid Flash in stealth mode.

Naruto was the last the join them as he floated down following the others in making the least amount of noise as possible.

"Alright here's the plan. We'll split up to cover more ground into teams. Artemis and M'gann will check out the eastern side of the forest. Kid Flash and Robin will check out western part. Kaldur and I will go south. Superboy that leaves you with north." said Naruto who then looked to Conner.

"You're the odd man out here. You got this?" Naruto asked.

"I can handle it." said the boy of steel.

"Alright. If you guys encounter anything like in the report be it gorillas, elephants, or just anything that you feel that you need back up let us know." said Naruto. "Miss Martian link us up."

The young martian did so.

" _Everyone online?"_ she asked telepathically.

Everyone responded in kind.

" _ **So am I."**_ said Kurama surprising them.  _ **"What did you think that now me and Naruto had told you about us that you wouldn't hear from me again?"**_

" _No Mr. Kurama."_ said Miss Martian.  _"It was just unexpected to hear your voice."_

" _ **Understood. But it's just Kurama girl. No mister. And no lord either."**_ said the tailed beast.

" _You heard him."_ said Kurama.

" _ **May I also say that you all have made a fine choice with Naruto being leader for the day."**_ said Kurama. Naruto grumbled at that.

"Anyway," said Naruto out loud. "Any questions?

A moment of silence came in with no one asking a question.

"Okay then if no one finds anything we will return to the LZ before dawn. Move out." he ordered.

As they each left Conner called to Miss Martian telepathically through their own kind of private channel that she made sure it was exclusive to the two of them.

" _M'gann. Be careful."_ he said to her.

This made her smile. Both stating that he was worried for her but respected her still.

" _You too Conner."_ she responded. With that the left their separate ways.

Naruto could feel Kaldur look on him as they moved through the forest.

"You have something to say?" he asked.

"I hope not to pry but you have stated in the past that you do not wish to take command in the past." said Kaldur.

"I have." said Naruto.

"But it just seems that you have a natural ability for it." said Kaldur.

Naruto remained silent for a moment.

"It's just temporary until they cool off. After this mission I think we should tell them who it was that tipped us off in the first place and get it straightened out."

"Even so all of us, myself included, voted for you to have us lead this mission. That and with how you took command of the situation proves that you have more to offer than me as leader." said Kaldur.

"Take command." said Naruto halting their march in the woods. "I've had to follow orders before. And though I disagreed with some of it I followed because my sensei and leaders told me and it saved my life on more than one occasion. And I learned from them. You need to do the same."

"Like you did. And like Batman did." said Kaldur coming to the realization.

"So endeth the lesson." said Naruto. "Now come on. We still have a mission to finish."

They continued walking through the forest. As they did so Kaldur pondered his words and the wisdom in them.

But it still didn't shake the belief that it should be Naruto leading them and not himself.

**(Central City)**

Dinah followed Naruto's advice and went to someone that both she and Oliver trusted to go to when finding clues or evidence. In this case to call on Barry Allen aka the Flash at the CCPD crime lab.

An appointment was made and sure enough Barry had scheduled some time for her to come in. She appeared as Black Canary so it was easy enough to do so. She didn't like having to use her status as a member of the Justice League on what was a personal matter between herself and Oliver but since her boyfriend wasn't being upfront about what he was doing she didn't see much choice.

She walked in to see Barry working on something and glad to find him alone in the lab.

"It's any wonder Iris sees you at all with all the time you spend working." said Dinah.

"She still doesn't understand how I am always late for dinner. And neither do I for that matter." said Barry.

They just smiled and hugged..

"Always good to see you Dinah." said Barry.

"Likewise Barry." she responded.

"So as much as I would like to think otherwise I'm pretty sure you didn't call me just to catch up. What can I do for you?" the speedster asked.

Dinah took a moment to think about what she was going to say. Finally she just decided to be blunt.

"Ollie got a call during our date a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a case but he told me it was nothing for me to worry about. Thing is we have always worked together even before we started dating so I found it odd. When I asked again he said it was nothing. But I can't shake the feeling that he is hiding something from me. You and him have always been close friends so if anyone besides me would know what's going on it's you Barry."

The speedster's smile disappeared immediately after hearing that. He looked around as if trying to think of how to answer. Dinah waited wondering what it was that Barry was thinking about. Finally he opened a drawer and took a piece of paper out.

"Let me be clear about something Dinah." he said. "I don't want to come between you and Oliver. But at the same time you should know whats going on. He'll probably kill me for showing this to you but truthfully you're my friend too and you shouldn't be kept in the dark."

He handed her the piece of paper.

"What am I looking at here?" she asked.

"A few days ago he came in with a two hair samples. He told me to run a DNA test on both of them. I thought at first it was for evidence. Until I saw that the second hair strand belonged to Oliver. His DNA is on file that's how I know it was his on the second hair sample." said Barry.

"And the first?" she asked but somehow already knowing where this was going.

"This one," he pointed to the first sample. "Was the hair sample he had accompanying his own. As you can see from a chronological stand point-"

"They are a match." she said. "Oliver has a son."

Barry nodded as she handed the paper back to him.

"From my guess it was back in his younger days when he was still a playboy. Before he was marooned on that island." Barry said as Dinah walked past him trying to process this situation.

"I understand what you're saying Barry." she said with clenched teeth. "But it isn't the fact that he has a son that is bothering me right now."

Barry nodded.

"Is there anything you need?" he asked.

"No." she said taking a deep breath. "You've been honest with me and I thank you for that. The rest I have to handle on my own."

And with that she left the lab. Barry looked down at the lab results in his hand and wondered if he made a mistake. He shook his head.

' _She needed to be told Oliver.'_ he thought to himself. Truth was he didn't feel right with this cloak and dagger stuff. He wouldn't do it to Iris. So why would Oliver not tell Dinah. He loved her.

Shouldn't that mean he should trust her?

**(India)**

" _This is it."_ said Naruto as the rest of the Team arrived at what looked to be an abandoned lab. In truth they knew better. Soon after splitting up each of them had been attacked by mutated animals. Aqualad quickly pointed out that they were collared and that was what was controlling them. One slash later and the elephant stopped attacking them. Relaying this info to the Team helped them.

Both he and Aqualad found a tiger collared standing there. Naruto sensed something was off. Sure enough as they got to the jungle cat's position pions showed up and tried to electrocute them. He managed to create a shield around the two of them and destroyed the pions.

Kurama told them both that he sensed that tiger's remorse and as such removed the bindings. Though it could not speak it was nudging them towards a direction. From there it was a matter of following the beast until they reached the compound.

" _Conner you in position?"_ asked Naruto.

" _Behind the compound as you told me."_ said the boy of steel.  _"Ready when you are."_

" _And your new friend?"_ he asked. This time Kurama answered.

" _ **Oh he is definitely ready to give payback."**_ said the tailed beast.

" _What friend is he talking about?"_ asked Artemis.

" _A stray in the forest that he became fast friends with."_ said M'gann with a smile on her face.

" _And what exactly are we doing?"_ asked Kid Flash.

" _Isn't it obvious?"_ said Naruto with a smirk on his face.  _"We knock on the front door and Conner comes in the back."_

From there they moved forward and destroyed the door in front of them. The lab was front and center. Inside they found a gorilla uncollared with a red beret on its head, a green harness, and carrying a mini-gun. On the beast right was what weirded out Naruto the most. There he saw a brain in a bowl on top of a robot body.

"Okay that's just weird." said Naruto out loud. "And I've seen some weird shit."

"So the young heroes have arrived." said the voice coming from same disembodied brain with a French accent.

"And it speaks." said Naruto.

"That's the Brain!" said Kid Flash.

"We can see that." said Artemis.

"No I mean he's the Brain the supervillain." said Kid Flash. "Used to be leader of his own organization before the Doom Patrol took it down."

"I see that my reputation precedes me. But it is time for this little adventure to come to its end." said the Brain. "Mallah restrain our guests."

Immediately following this Mallah pulled out a remote control from his harness and pressed the button. Instantly four pylons emerged around them. At the same time a gust of wind blew through them and the pylons were suddenly sliced in half before activating.

"What!?" called out the Brain.

" _Superboy now!"_ Naruto called out telepathically.

Instantly the wall behind the Brain and Mallah was destroyed and Superboy emerged. Shirt tattered with claw and bite marks he stood with what Naruto guessed was the creature that gave said marks. A white wolf mutated like the other animals they had encountered with no collar on him.

' _Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.'_ thought Naruto in his own private channel of his mind.

"I hate monkeys." said Conner seeing Mallah. The wolf beside him growled in agreement and joined him in charging the ape.

The boy of steel leapt into the air and came crashing down on empty space as Mallah managed to dodge out of the way of his fist. The ape spooled up his minigun. Though Superboy managed to shield his new friend and ally, he grunted in pain as he was pushed back from the hail of bullets.

The beast turned his gun around to the others and fired only to meet a green energy wall stopping the bullets along with energy beams from the blasters of the Brain's blasters.

"Really?" said Naruto. "Take them down."

Kaldur moved forward using his water bearer's to create a shield. From there M'gann telekinetically took away the mini-gun with Kid Flash taking the beret and the green vest which had ammo on it. Naruto extended his shield to make sure none of his team were hurt from the Brain's blasters.

It had not taken long for them including Superboy's wolf and the tiger that lead them to the base to surround the two villains with Mallah roaring in defiance.

"Calm yourself messir Mallah. This shall not be our Waterloo." said the Brain.

Suddenly the Brain's body opened up. Looking to the rest of the group they looked like weapon ports as if the Brain was preparing a final stand.

"Everyone get down!" said Kid Flash.

Naruto went into action and fired a beam at the two of them. With that he encased the Brain and Mallah inside a bubble construct.

"Or that you could do that." said Kid Flash seeing the reasoning behind putting someone armed with weapons into what he assumed was an indestructible bubble.

If the villain was surprised he did not voice it.

"Au revoir mon ami." said the Brain. He teleported from the bubble with Mallah roaring inside his.

" _He's angry alright. But it seems to be mostly at being captured. Not at his master leaving him."_ said Kurama to the Team.

That gave them something to think about

"Well we lost one but managed to get his partner." said Naruto. "Call Captain Marvel. Tell him we have a prisoner for Belle Reve. Or the zoo. That decision we leave to them"

The Team worked from there to free the rest of the animals that had been modified of their collars while Naruto kept Mallah inside the bubble construct. During the process Captain Marvel arrived and somehow started talking to the tiger after the others returned.

"All the collars have been taken care of." said Robin.

"Good job guys." said the Captain. He turned to the tiger.

"And you'll keep and eye on the forest?"

The tiger roared in acknowledgement. From there the beast walked off into the forest with the rest of the animals.

Not all left the Team though with Conner petting the wolf.

"Can I keep him?" he asked his fellow team members.

"First the Sphere now this beast? What's with you and picking up strays?" asked Kid Flash.

"Maybe because he is a stray himself." said Miss Martian with a smile.  _"Aren't you?"_

" _Yeah I guess."_ Conner responded to her with their link set up.

" _Conner I wanted to say thank you. For trusting me and showing how much you respect me by letting me split up with Artemis."_ said Miss Martian kneeling down to him and grasping his shoulder.

" _I won't lie M'gann. I was still scared after seeing you nearly die from being surrounded by fire. My first instinct was to protect you."_ said Conner.

" _Nearly dying comes with the job you know that."_ said the martian.

" _Yeah I know. And when we are on mission we have to be teammates. Naruto showed me that today."_ said the boy of steel.  _"I promise to always be respectful of you M'gann. But it won't stop me from being worried about you. I will keep a lid on it though."_

Miss Martian had to fight a blush forming on her face.  _"Thank you Conner. And for the record its the same for me. I worry about you too."_

Superboy smiled at that.

"Well he's gonna need a name. How about Krypto?" said Kid Flash.

The wolf growled.

"Pass. Plus Superman's dog is already called that." said Superboy. "Wolfe is as good a name as any I think."

"Wolfe" barked in approval.

Kid Flash sighed.

"Generic but acceptable."

Aqualad and Naruto started to climb on board the ship with Robin leaning against it.

"Just tell me something. Why did you keep the possibility of a mole from us?" he asked.

Naruto looked to Aqualad and nodded to him. The atlantean turned to the rest of them.

"The the source of the tip was Sportsmaster."

"What!?" said Artemis. "You can't trust him!"

' **Anger. Lots of it at the mention of that guy. Although why I don't know. But that much anger seems to suggest familiarity with that guy.'** said Kurama in their own private link.

' _As in more than just the whole enemy thing. So what's the connection then?'_ asked Naruto.

' **I can only read emotions not minds. If we were still linked I could probably get more details but since we are not after the mission ended that's all I can find out.'** said Kurama.

' _Would be too invasive into her privacy anyway.'_ said Naruto realizing how secretive the archer had been about her past. Enough to try faking as Green Arrow's niece. Whatever she's hiding will need to come out on her time not theirs.

"I did not." said Aqualad getting Naruto's attention back to the conversation at hand. "It was possible even likely that he gave false intel in order to divide the team."

"Which if it wasn't for Naruto taking command it would have succeeded." said Robin.

"I would like to think that you all would have found your way to working together with or without me being around." said Naruto.

"But you were here." said Miss Martian. "And you got us in line before the mission even started. If not for you maybe we would have but things would have already been a mess. Just like with Santa Prisca when you stopped Robin from rushing in."

"In any case," said Naruto trying to keep his success off the their minds. "Even knowing this was bad intel, as Aqualad explained to me, we couldn't just write it off. He could very well be telling the truth. And as leader Aqualad did not want to risk tipping the mole off."

"He speaks the truth. As he stated Naruto wished to tell all of you from the moment we heard about this intel but as leader I decided against it." said Aqualad.

"Hate to say it but it makes sense." said Robin.

"I am still willing to step down as leader." said Aqualad.

' _Please say no.'_ said Naruto in his head much to Kurama's chuckling. ' _Shut it furball!'_

"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as our leader?" said Kid Flash cheeringly raising his hand as the first person saying yes. The others did the same with a sigh of relief from Naruto as they did so.

It would be short lived.

"Wait." said Aqualad. "The fact remains that Green Lantern lead the mission. His ability to get us together for this mission and his ability to keep us in line proves once again his ability as a leader. As you mentioned M'gann with how he helped us in Santa Prisca with the capture of Kobra. Our training under him and tonight proves his ability."

"No!" said Naruto cutting him. "The team already voted you back as leader. You can't just give it away after that."

"What about a compromise then?" said Robin. "Aqualad is still leader until he or we say otherwise. But you get to be second in command."

"If anyone should be that it's you Robin!" said Naruto.

"But it goes back to Santa Prisca doesn't it? How you stopped me from stealthing it and risking the mission." said Robin smirking. "Fact is I'm still learning to work with the team."

"And cleaning up the mess I made with during the mission with getting Amazo to Star Labs by getting Ivo." said Superboy.

"Not helping!" said Naruto.

"The facts are facts my friend." said Aqualad. "You have more experience then you care to share that much is obvious. Especially with a group. I understand not wanting to take a leadership position. But I need someone to help me. The second in command position is the best compromise we can offer. Because truthfully I would like someone to take this from me. If not Robin then you are the next sure thing this team has to a leader."

"What does Kurama say about all this?" said Artemis. "Surely he should have an opinion. He's known Naruto longer than any of us."

Before he could say anything on the matter he heard Miss Martian's voice in their head.

" _We're linked. Kurama?"_

" _ **I hear you child. And have been listening to what you all have said. To which I must say this. Naruto has more than enough ability to lead this team. Problem is he doesn't want to. A desire that clearly none of you agree with. The fact is as of right now second in command is all you will get for now. Personally he should get his head out of his ass and accept the fact that he is a natural leader but this will hopefully help see the error of his ways."**_

" _Really Kurama?"_ said Naruto.

"All in favor of having Green Lantern as our second in command?" said Kid Flash raising his hand. The others followed instantly later.

"Don't I get a say in this!?" said Naruto.

"Nope!" said Artemis. "Like it or not you're the new second in command."

Naruto just sighed.

"Fine. But don't blame me if one time I get us killed."

"Congratulations." said Captain Marvel making everyone remember that he was still there.

"You're going to tell the League about his new development aren't you?" Naruto asked.

"Yep." he said. "See you all tomorrow."

"You are not coming us back to the cave?" asked Aqualad.

"Nope. Gotta fly." he said. And with that he flew up into the air to parts unknown.

' **Child. Definitely a child is what he is.'** said Kurama. Naruto would agree except for the the lament that he was in at being named in a leadership position.

' _I don't care right now. I just want to go home.'_

**(Star City)**

Oliver walked into his apartment. More accurately his penthouse. As far as it goes it was humble compare to other billionaire penthouse's with nice but not overly pretentious furniture and the such.

He saw Dinah was already there with her back turned. She was sitting in the kitchen island.

"Hey Pretty Bird." said Oliver coming up to her to embrace her from behind. But as he approached her he saw that she was tense and held back. She turned around.

"When were you going to tell me?" she questioned

"About what?" said Oliver sounding worried.

"About this!" she yelled holding the paper in front of him. Oliver took it and looked it over and realized what she was talking about.

"Dinah-"

"Don't." she said. "Just to be clear I don't care that you have a son aside from the hope that you would be at the very least responsible for him. I care about the fact that you didn't tell me. More than that you lied to me about it being a mission."

"My world just changed forever Dinah." said Oliver. "Should I not be allowed at least some time to process this before saying it to anyone."

"I would believe that Ollie. I would." Dinah agreed. "Having the knowledge that you have a child from your years as being some kind of rich playboy as the man you are now I can understand. Except you didn't keep it to yourself. You went to Barry with a hair sample for a paternity test."

Oliver stood there for what seemed like an eternity before answering.

"What do you want me to say Dinah? That you're right. Fine I admit that. I should have come to you. But I wasn't sure until I got the hair sample."

"That isn't what I want to hear." said Dinah. "I just want to know one thing. Would you have ever have told me."

Oliver again stood silent for a moment.

"I want to say yes. But at the time I didn't know if I could. How you would react to it."

That put Dinah in tears after hearing that but she stood her ground.

"I just said I didn't care. It wouldn't have changed anything if you had just told me. If you had trusted me with the truth. Telling me, the woman you love, the truth about have a son from a past relationship or even a one night stand that you just found out should have been a relief not a burden for you."

"And what about now?" said Oliver.

"Now?" questioned Dinah. "Now I don't know Ollie. I had to find out from Barry who at least had the decency to be honest with me. Something you weren't."

She was openly crying now.

"Now I just don't know. But I think we can both agree that we need some space."

And thus she walked away from him. She left the apartment and walked a few meters before finally collapsing on the wall of the hallway and sobbed.

**(Mount Justice)**

Naruto was setting on the couch in the living room space of the cave. He was looking at one of the scrolls that was left to him when heard the Zeta-Tube activate. Quickly leaving his scroll on the table he moved towards the tube just in time to see Dinah exit it with head downcast.

"Dinah?" he asked perking her head up. He could see that she was crying.

"Naruto." she said wiping her face. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be up at this hour."

"What's going on?" he asked. She immediately turned around to the tube.

"I'm sorry I don't why I even came here. I should go." she said.

"Whoa whoa." Naruto said standing in front of her. "You came for a reason. At the very least let's get to the kitchen so I can get you something to drink and we can talk about it."

He could see that Dinah took a moment to consider what he was seeing. She sighed after a moment.

"That would actually be great right now." she said.

He led her to the kitchen where he got a glass of water. They both sat down in the living room with her on the couch and him on a chair.

"Don't take this the wrong way but I kinda wish it was something stronger than water." she said after gulping down the water.

"Well we have plenty of soda but I don't know if you would like to drink it. And as far as alcohol goes we're a bunch of kids in here." said Naruto.

"The team is but you're not." said Dinah.

"On this world and in this country I'am." said Naruto. Both of them laughed at the joke.

"Well thanks for at least getting me to smile. Even if for a moment." said the heroine. Her smile didn't last though as her mind went back to why she came here.

"Dinah what happened?" Naruto asked.

"I don't want to talk about it now." said Dinah. "In one bullet point I think Ollie and I are on a break. And suffice it to say I need a new place to live for a while."

Naruto knew then not to ask how his suggestion went.

"You can stay here for now." he said. "

"Thanks Naruto but I can find a hotel for the time being." she tried to argue.

"Nonsense." said Naruto shaking his head. "There's more than enough room here until you find a place. Besides this used to be the headquarters of the League anyway."

The young man could see she was at least thinking about it.

"Do you think the Team will object?"

"I highly doubt it." said Naruto with a smile. "Besides I've got some newly acquired authority as the new second in command of the Team."

That got her attention.

"Really?" she said with a smile. "I'm assuming with that new promotion came with you resolving the trust issue the others had with Aqualad?"

"A small part I played that they felt needing rewarding. Not one of my ideas I assure of you of that." the shinobi said raising up for the couch. "Now c'mon. I'll regale you with the tale as we find you room milady."

Dinah laughed at that and followed him to find a room to get some sleep and regroup for the following days.

But as they headed down the hall the Zeta-Tube activated again. Dinah braced herself thinking it was Oliver trying to get to come back. Thankfully, it turned out to be Barry in his Flash suit carrying a box of stuff.

"I decided to pay a visit. I guessed on what would've happened and with Oliver in the state he was in it wasn't hard to figure out how your conversation came out. I thought it would be a good idea to get some stuff that belonged to you.." he said gesturing to the box. "It's just some clothes from your closet that Oliver put in. Stuff you might want to change into to get more comfortable."

"Thank you Barry. You don't need to be our go between but I appreciate the effort." said Dinah.

"I will take this if that's alright with you Dinah." said Naruto.

She nodded. Barry gave the box with a nodded from himself to the shinobi in acknowledgement and Barry went back into the Zeta-Tube and teleported home.

"Let's get you settled in." he said

As they walked to through the halls and reached the door Naruto decided to pose a question

"I know the timing of this is terrible but I have in mind to bring in another hand to hand teacher. The one I said who is probably the best taijutsu master of my planet. His name is Rock Lee and he is very eager to come."

"Seeing as how you summoned two toads as additional instructors I don't see a problem with it." said Dinah.

"Thank you Dinah." said Naruto leaving her alone with her thoughts. "And in exchange if you want I could start looking for a new place. Who knows maybe even find a place for myself if and when I feel the time has come to stop all this babysitting."

Dinah again laughed at the joke. A laughter that brought a smile to Naruto's face.

"Thank you again Naruto. For the help." And with that she went into her room and closed the door.

After that Naruto turned back to the table and decided to take his scroll and head back to his room. Once he fully read it over he would need to go to Mogo and practice it.

' _I learned one jutsu from my father.'_ he thought to himself looking at his hand.  _'After today with the Brain's escape it might be time to learn the other to make sure it doesn't happen again.'_

**(One week later)**

Dinah walked into the room dressed in simple cotton pants and a grey t-shirt and walked into the kitchen with M'gann making breakfast.

"Hello Ms. Lance." she said.

"Morning M'gann." said Dinah with a nod.

Conner showed up seeing as how he and M'gann lived here while the other members of the team had their own places to call home.

Naruto's assumption that the team would be more than welcome with her to be among for a short time was correct. They welcomed her with open arms. Batman also approved of her being their "den-mother" for the foreseeable future until she found another place to live. Something that Dinah hoped to do in the near future.

Speaking of said shinobi.

"Where is Naruto?" she asked taking her coffee.

"He said he went to his homeworld. He would be back shortly he said."

As if on cue Naruto was coming out of the Zeta-Tube. With him was a young man about his age with shiny black hair in a bowl hairstyle, rather bushy eyebrows and lower eyelashes. He was wearing a sleeveless green jumpsuit with an orange neckwarmer with a comically large backpack in tow.

"May I introduce the present company to Rock Lee. Who is quite possibly the greatest taijutsu practitioner of my world. Lee this Dinah, Conner, and M'gann." said Naruto.

"A pleasure to meet all of you." said Lee bowing.

"Pleasure is ours." said M'gann. "I know how hard it can be at first being on a new planet so please make yourself at home. I just started making breakfast if you want to get settled."

"If you don't mind." said Lee.

M'gann lead him to the kitchen table and started asking question about with. Naruto was concerned at first since during the trip he decided to go with a ship construct to make Lee more comfortable. It didn't help though seeing Lee's first space trip in a construct of any kind. In outer space no less.

He did like the color though.

"So first toads for guest instructors and now you bring someone to live here who you claim is the best hand to hand fighter of your world." said Dinah. "From what I've seen of you in a fight that's a tall order."

"Believe once you see him in action you will believe me." said Naruto. "Lee was the candidate that my people's leaders approved for a sort of cultural exchange. I figure Earth was a good as place as any given that our worlds have similarity. And he wants to learn the many martial arts that are here on this world. When I told him about you he couldn't get over his excitement."

"And what did you tell him about me?" she asked hands on her hips.

"Only good things." Naruto promised. "I told him you were one of the greatest martial artists on this planet. Even on ours in terms of taijutsu with no chakra involved you were among the very best this planet had to offer."

For whatever reason Dinah beamed at that.

"And to your other problem with finding a new place to live I think I might have a solution to that problem." said Naruto motioning her to follow him out of earshot and pulling up a holo panel in the caves computer.

In panel she saw what looked an incomplete project area that just now looked to be getting back to completing it.

"I was looking and found a townhouse project that was being done right here in Happy Harbor. The project was stalled due to your planet's recession causing a los "investors."

"And you became an investor for it?" its questioned Dinah.

"Yep." said Naruto

"How much money do you have?" she asked.

"Not nearly as much as say Bruce but enough to be able to invest in this without feeling much of sting from it." said Naruto. "Once Lee has done introducing himself and has gotten settled then I will show him this as well."

"So I'm assuming that you are also planning to move in to this townhouse once completed too?" Dinah guessed.

"Eventually perhaps." said Naruto. "Now enough of about this I'm starving actually."

**(Unknown location)**

"The experiments prove the viability of Cobra Venom not just in humans but other aspect of life on the planet. In addition to strength with some experimentation such beings intellect can be enhanced furthering the viability of creating a variety of soldiers outside of using Cadmus." said the Brain in front of his colleagues behind their monitors.

" _Very good."_  said L-1.  _"Be assured that Mallah will be released no sooner than week's end. You have our word on that."_

"You have my gratitude for that." said the Brain. "But there is something that I should add. The team of young "heroes" were not disorganized as we thought they would've have been after Sportmaster hinted at the possibility of a traitor to Aqualad in Taipei."

" _Are you certain?"_  asked L-2.

"Positive." said the Brain. "In fact they were even more united and efficient then normal. I have guessed as to why though."

" _You refer to the Green Lantern in their ranks."_  said L-4.

"Indeed my friends. In fact if not for our intel about the Lanterns that prepared me with a teleportation device I fear I would be joining Mallah in a cell right now." said the Brain.

" _Then perhaps the time has come to truly test their mettle and truly ascertain the threat he represents."_  said L-3.  _"We already know from the Amazo battle that this Green Lantern is more than what he seems to be with the demonstration of him possessing abilities that neither of the other two Lanterns have. And we can also ascertain through this team's efforts that the League has begun to suspect that an our organization is helping other "villains"work together."_

" _Agreed."_  said L-1  _"So perhaps we should give them what they already suspect. And at the same time provide the necessary diversion away from us and our Light."_

" _Do you know of someone who can provide this for us?"_  said L-2.

" _Indeed."_ said L-1

**(Louisiana Bayou-weeks later)**

Each of the now so-called Injustice League stood looking at one of the soon to be many tree monsters. Each member was there for their own reason Count Vertigo knew this when he told them what Vandal had said to him. To be the face to hide a new secret society of villains and throw off the trail made by the Justice League.

The general purpose, though Vertigo himself found it unlikely, was to get a large amount of money from the UN. But they each had their reasons for being there.

Poison Ivy wanted the money. Eco Terrorism was an expensive operation after all. More than that she wanted humanity to pay for what it has done to the Earth and its plant life.

Ultra-Humanite's reason was for his ego. Proving his intellect superior to other of the planet.

The Joker, the second in their company from Batman's Rogue's Gallery, looked forward to bringing his certain humor to a large stage with many people dying at his hands from the concoction of combined Joker and Kobra venom. Bringing a death with laughter to such a grand stage was something he could not turn down.

Wotan joined up for the chance to face the his mortal enemy Doctor Fate and acquire the Helmet of Fate. Not quite likely but it always remained a possibility.

As for Black Adam his reasons were far more personal. Reasons only Vertigo knew and for his part would keep as long as it kept him a part of the plan. And Atomic Skull, who would provide the energy needed for the new tree weapons, just wanted the money.

"The first test of the new weapon is ready then?" said Count Vertigo.

"Yes." said Poison Ivy. "Though I only hope it doesn't put too much strain on my baby."

She was caressing the giant tree that had taken this long to grow to the size that would be used to control the rest of the roots that would spring up. Like the tree itself they would be enhanced with a combination of Cobra-Venom with the Joker's own laughing gas venom for offense against the people of the Earth.

"We had this facility built exactly for that purpose Ivy. As well as to power her." said Wotan. "Atomic Skull will provide the additional energy needed and Ultrahumanite will help maintain her vitals."

"You have my word on that Ivy." said the intelligent white ape.

"All that power under the control of my fingertips." said the Joker with a maniacal grin that seemed eternally plastered on his face. "Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Vertigo did not want the Joker involved. Hell even most of his teammates didn't want him involved. But when Vandal called him for help with getting the League of his groups back in return for a favor down the road he couldn't say no. And the clown was one of the most prolific villains in Batman's Rogues Gallery with Poison Ivy possibly being the most powerful.

"Then the first strike shall begin tomorrow. Be ready my friends for we shall not only be very rich but also strike a very significant blow upon our enemies." said Vertigo.

As they each left Vertigo looked to Black Adam who stayed behind.

"I know I shouldn't ask but I want to make sure that you are focused on the task." said Vertigo.

"You know that I am." said Adam. "As long as you and your "associates" keep your end of the bargain."

"We will. You will find what you have lost." said Vertigo.

"You had best keep your word Count. For I will hold you to it." said Adam stepping towards him and using his height to tower over him.

"Break it and no nation, people, army, or whatever gods you pray to will save you from me. That is my word."

**(Ajnin-Unknown Location)**

Motar-Mu had scouted for what seemed like weeks trying to find somewhere to activate his communicator. He had heard from some of the villagers, the ones who would be in charge of building new ships, that the ninja of this nation were not to be trifled with and were said to be good with surveillance.

Looking around and hoping for the best he activated his transmitter. It was already too long as is.

" _Motar-Mu."_ said the voice of the hologram that was being emitted. He was completely black with no recognizable feature on his face. Almost like a mask but he could see signs of expressions on the beings so called face.

" _This is Von Daggle. You are late with your report."_ The leader of the Corpse grated with irritation.

"I know sir." said Motar-Mu. "It has not been easy to find a location given the amount of security on this planet. Even during its peaceful cycle the Ajnians are very thorough with their security."

" _I understand. Given what the Guardian council have said about the Lantern Naruto we should be expecting this. That is why they called upon us, the Corpse, to find out who and what these people are and what they are capable of. And when it was found out that Tomar-Tu was leading a science team to come to this planet we choose you to be our operative on this mission."_ said Von Daggle.

"I understand sir." said the Xudarian. "And I have much to report on."

" _Very well Motar-Mu. Lets begin."_

**End Chapter**

_Hello everyone. I hope you all have had a great Easter. I know that everyone is tired of me saying it but I'm sorry for chapters being this slow to come into fruition. I am not the best updater and I appreciate you all sticking with me. And please keep the critiques coming it helps me be better at this._

_The only thing I can say is this story will continue to its end. Just hoping its gets there faster. And I will say hold out for the next chapter because the next one is one I myself have been wanting to get to for a while._

_For those wondering the Corpse that I mention is a black ops section of the Green Lantern Corps. It and Von Daggle are on the green lanteren wiki if you want to check it out._

_I also truly hope that you guys at least understand how and why I broke up Dinah and Oliver as there is the plotline in the comics and I needed to create drama in another area since the drama that happened with the team in the episode does not happen in this chapter of the story thanks to Naruto's involvement._

_Rest assured it will be some time, like a lot of time, before any relationship beyond being friends for Naruto and her. And I hope for those seeing Infinity War that this is as good a second thing to read before the movie._

_Finally for those of you thinking why Naruto is not leader now and is second in command please remember that this Naruto is not the same as in canon. Similar yes but one that does not wish to lead. Even though, as I hoped I pointed out in this chapter, that he is a natural fit for it._

_See you all next time._


	21. Revelations of a True Self

**(Ajnin-Nara Compound)**

Naruto and Shikamaru say in the room they always choose when playing their annual Shogi game when he visits home. Tonight however, the Nara heir seemed to notice something odd going on with his opponent.

"Something on your mind?" Shikamaru asked his friend. "You seem distracted."

"Mind if I do something?" Naruto asked. "With the game I mean."

Shikamaru gestured with his hand to do so. His opponent started taking pieces off the board from his own side.

"Interesting strategy Naruto. Care to explain what you're doing?"

"Trying to learn how to win at a disadvantage." said Naruto.

"I get the feeling this more than just a game of Shogi. You took the rook and knight pieces. All valuable." said Shikamaru.

"Those are pieces I have yet to cultivate." said Naruto.

"And who are you playing against?" Shikamaru asked. "The guardian council or someone else?"

Naruto pointed at Shikamaru's own king piece.

"A ghost. Or ghosts depending on how many "kings" or "queens" are in it."

"Does this have something to do with what's going on Earth?" Shikamaru questioned but already knew the answer.

Naruto nodded.

"Someone's been having a lot of people, villains as it were, working together in a manner that my friends on Earth have not seen before. It's worldwide. I know of two players who would consider themselves kings and a name of an organization but that is as far as I've come so far."

"What's the name of the organization?" organization asked Shikamaru.

"'The Light', is what they call themselves." Naruto said.

"A bit pretentious if you ask me." said Shikamaru.

"Agreed." said Naruto.

"Such a group would have many associates working with or for them. Some of those associates would have goals and motives that will contradict with each other. Find at least one among them that have goals you can accomplish, and prove to them that the Light was helping one of their enemies, and you will be on step closer to putting these so called kings and queens into checkmate."

Naruto looked at the board. He reached over to Shikamaru's side and put another piece.

"And from there add more than just the one."

"An ambitious if not dangerous tactic. But one you have used before to great effect Naruto," Shikamaru reminded. "You have many weapons at your disposal. Your charisma and ability to speak to a person's heart may very well be one of, if the, greatest weapon in your arsenal. Take advantage of it once again and you shall defeat your kings and queens."

The lantern nodded.

**(Happy Harbor with Lee and Naruto at the Townhouse)**

The original Naruto is working on restoring a front yard garden, his clones are working on finishing interiors that were left unfinished, and Lee was hauling large stone cut outs for the natural stone driveways that Naruto wanted to upgrade to.

Jazz Music played over the sound of labor, via satellite radio.

"Naruto." Lee called out. "I have to something that I need to talk about with you."

"Go ahead Bushy-Brow I'm all ears." said Naruto. Him calling Lee his nick name seemed to take him off guard but also took some of the tension out of his old friend.

Lee took a deep breath. "I believe that I might have developed feelings for Lady Natu."

Naruto stopped working on his garden after hearing that.

"Yeah I kinda figured you did when you started calling her Lady. Not to mention the blush you had around her when she showed up after your fight with Gaara."

The green clad ninja blushed in embarrassment after seeing how he was so obvious with his crush.

"And if your planning to ask me how to approach this remember who you are talking to and my own track record when it comes to women." said Naruto.

"Ah." said Lee realizing that himself. "I see your point."

"But if it will help and keep you off my back about it ask Dinah. She has more experience in this field than both of us, including present circumstances about her own relationship. And it would probably be more helpful getting a woman's perspective on how to proceed with your crush." said Naruto.

Lee nodded and bowed. "Thank you Naruto."

Naruto shrugged and got back to his garden. Lee continued to work as well.

"How long do you think it will take for everything in the town house to be finished?" Lee asked. Naruto continued to work as he answered.

"About a year give or take. The construction company should be done in less time than that but the improvements, such as this garden and the interior, will take longer depending on what I want done with it." said Naruto. "Either way should be done in time for Dinah and whoever else from the Team or even the League that wants to move in. Now or in the future." said Naruto.

"You thinking either could be expanding?" said Lee.

"With as many beings with power that seem to crop up around this planet it's not so much if but when." said Naruto going back to work on his garden. Lee hauled up more stone cuts.

"You would think that an organization like this Justice League would have more organization to it." said Lee.

"You would think." said Naruto concentrating on his work.

"Something someone should talk to them about." said Lee. Naruto sighed.

"Lee you've never been one for subtlety so just say what you're thinking about."

"All I'm saying is Naruto that you could propose something that could make them more efficient. Not just in battle but in other areas." said Lee.

Naruto took a moment to think about what Lee was saying. It made sense. The League could do more to handle crisis that happened on this planet.

"I will think on it. But I'm not quite sure how it will work out. I don't exactly have a lot of authority or clout to work with at the moment."

"That will change." said Lee. Naruto rolled his eyes at that. It was at that moment that the radio stopped the music.

" _We interrupt this scheduled broadcast to give you this important announcement. As we speak Metropolis is being attacked by what appears to be a giant plant monster. We will have more information as the situations progresses but for now an evacuation order is issued for Happy Harbor despite no indications yet that the city will be attacked. Anyone who wishes to leave please do so in an orderly fashion. That is all."_ said the voice.

Immediately following that Naruto got a call on his ear piece.

" _Naruto it's Kaldur. Batman just called the Team to report to the cave. Better get a move on."_

"Me and Lee are heading back now." said Naruto turning his earpiece off and turning to Lee.

"Looks like the project is done for the day. Let's get going."

As they left Naruto hanged back a bit and turned to the plants in his garden that were still alive.

"Behave yourselves." he before catching up with Lee.

**(Mount Justice - Main Hall)**

Both Lee and Naruto arrived to see the rest of the team were there in their civies along with Captain Marvel, Zatara, and their temporary den mother Dinah.

At almost the same time Batman showed up. Naruto and Lee moved so that he could pass them.

"Computer: National News." the dark knight called. Immediately the computer showed the television footage of Cat Grant reporting on the situation in Metropolis.

" _The previous attack was short live but the Metropolis was only given a short reprieve. Despite intervention of Superman and the Justice League there seems to be no end in sight."_ said the reporter over the previous footage of Superman and the League saving civilians from crumbling buildings and fighting the creature.

"Should we get out there?" asked Robin

"No. The league will soon have the situation contained that's not why I'm here." said Batman who then pulled up an image of Sportsmaster.

"According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied the Blockbuster formula to Kobra."

"Which they combined it with Bane's venom to created Kobra Venom." said Wally.

"Which the Brain used to create his animal army." Robin responded.

"Including Wolfe." said Superboy petting said giant wolf.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars like the ones they use in Belle Reve." said M'gann

"Batman could it possible that these plant thingies are also using Kobra Venom too?" said Artemis.

"I had Green Lantern, John Stewart, do a spot analysis. According to the cellulose there is a trace amount of a Kobra Venom variant."

"This is no coincidence. Unrelated villains are working together worldwide." said Kaldur as Robin has pulled out a holo keyboard and started typing.

"Which leads to only one conclusion." Naruto called out. "The enemy has created a secret society of supervillains in answer to the Justice League. And I'm going to take a wild guess that Metropolis is only the beginning of these attacks."

"He's right." said Robin. He then pulled up four more video feeds.

"Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, Taipei-"

Suddenly all the video feeds were nothing but static.

"Dude!" Wally admonished.

"It's not me!" said Robin frantically typing on his keyboard. "Someone's hacked the satellite signal. All satellite signals."

The static turned back into the live feed only it was not the cities under attack that showed. What did appear was the image of what to be the creepiest clown Naruto had ever seen.

Said clown knocked on the camera lens as if to make sure it was working.

" _Ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem for this important announcement."_

He then turned the camera away from him to a group of individuals. All of whom seemed to radiate power and malevolence.

" _From the Injustice League."_ said the clown. The short hair blond who was dressed for royalty spoke up.

" _We are responsible for the attacks on your cities."_ he said in an accented voice on what Naruto knew was going to be the beginning of his speech.

" _If you wish to save these cities a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Instructions on its delivery have already been issued to the United Nations. There is no time limit. But the longer you're governments take to assemble said ransom…"_

" _The more we get to have our jollies."_ the Joker finished with his laughter being the last thing broadcasted as it went to static once again.

Batman touched the earpiece in his cowl.

"Roger that Aquaman the UN will prepare the ransom as a fallback. But it won't come to that."

Robin was typing on the keyboard rewinding the recording to the image of showing the Injustice League.

"Count Vertigo, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Ultra-Humanite, Black Adam, Atomic Skull, Wotan. All seven heavy hitters. Probably behind everything and everyone we have faced."

"There is your secret society." said Wally.

"Not so secret anymore." commented Artemis. Naruto stood in silence processing what they all just saw.

' _Except no sign of Luthor or Ra's. And the name is different.'_ he thought to himself remembering what he'd heard in Taipei.

"Perhaps after India they deduced that we would learn the truth and saw no point in hiding anymore." said Aqualad.

"That was their mistake." Wally exclaimed excitedly. "I say we go out there and kick some plant creature butt!"

"The League will handle the plant creatures. I have a different assignment for this team." said Batman.

"Aww man." said Wally who got a well deserved punch in the arm from Artemis.

"With the plants attacking all these cities to simultaneously there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it." Batman issued.

As he say this Naruto was already feeling hesitant about this mission.

" _With Guy Gardner not here and on patrol they League will need all the firepower they can get. Maybe I should volunteer to join the League so I can coordinate with John and Hal to take out the plant creatures.'_

"You do realize what you are actually asking them to do?" said Zatara.

"They are ready." said Batman.

"Agreed." said Black Canary. That got Naruto's attention hearing sound both worried and confident at the same time.

And the young shinobi realized one good reason why he couldn't leave the team to handle this alone.

"Ready for what?" asked Wally not getting the obvious. And thus getting another punch in the arm from Artemis.

"Ow! What did you do that-"

"Hello Wally!" she interrupted. "If the big guns are fighting the plant creatures who do you think we'll be fighting?"

"I don't know maybe-"

"Look at the screen Wally." said Naruto at the same time Artemis pointed at said screen with the frozen picture of the Injustice League..

"Oh." said the speedster finally getting the message.

"I'm not going to lie here guys." said Naruto suddenly. "I am conflicted. One the one hand you guys need as much muscle as possible for this mission. On the other hand you could make the same argument for the Plants."

He turned to Lee.

"But I do have a solution that could give the League a little more help without me being there."

His right hand made into a fist, Naruto concentrated and from his power ring he formed another ring that looked identical to his own. It hovered for a moment before floating all about the room until finally settling in front of Lee.

"Called it." Naruto quipped. "Lee, what you see in front of you is a deputy ring. A temporary ring made by yours truly. As you can guess it will give you the same options as mine with the big differences being that it will only be on your finger for twenty-four hours. For those hours I suggest you go weeding, kinda' like a D-rank from your Genin days, only bigger and badder."

"Are you sure this is wise?" said Batman.

"If there is anyone who should be wearing a Green Lantern ring, or in this case a deputy version of it, its Lee." said Naruto. "Besides like I said it's only temporary. If he were chosen he would have to go Oa to get trained and that is something we don't have the time for."

"Naruto maybe unorthodox Batman." said Dinah. "But after training the Team with both him and Lee I agree with his assessment."

"We are on board with it as well." said Aqualad.

"Despite the bruises." said Wally holding his shoulder.

"And Captain Marvel?" questioned the Dark Knight. "Are you alright with this?"

"Hey this is kind of Green Lantern thing. As far as I can tell this is none of our business."

"Agreed." said Zatara. "If the young lantern feels that our newest guest can handle the responsibility then we shall leave to his judgement. And I'm sure you can agree that we could use all the bodies we can to face the plant creatures."

Lee looked up at everyone watching as these events unfolded. He looked to Naruto who nodded and with a big smile on his face grabbed the ring and put it on his finger. As soon as he did flames of green surrounded him and he found himself in the same black and green body suit with a white circle in chest. The same suit that Naruto had when he first got his ring.

"Yooosh!" Lee cried excitedly. After he calmed down he looked himself down a bit.

"It's not my usual style though."

"The body suit is a construct. All you have to do is imagine what you want to wear, concentrate on it, and it shall be." Naruto explained.

Leed nodded and closed his eyes. The suit glowed and transformed. From what once was a body suit now changed into a black bodysuit with a green vest with a white circle in the center of it. His hands were now covered in green bandages like his normal outfit but he had combat boots instead of sandals.

"Nice." said Naruto. "Very you."

"Now that that is taken care of." said Zatara "Batman and Dinah I hope you are correct with sending the team after the Injustice League."

"I am if you can locate them." said Batman.

"Indeed. Wotan's involvement means that sorcery is involved in these attacks. Robin if you could pull out the holomap?"

Robin pulled out of his stupor for what just happened and pulled up the holo map of the globe.

Zatara held out his hand and made an incantation. The globe spun until a red dot landed on a location.

"There. That is where you will find the Injustice League transmitter."

"And their base no doubt." said Robin typing in the coordinates. "Got it. The coordinates lead to the Louisiana Bayou."

"Everyone get prepped with whatever gear you need. Meet at the Bioship in ten minutes." said Kaldur.

Dinah then looked to Lee and Naruto.

"If it is alright with you I could use your help in defending Star City. I will be joining up with Red and Green Arrow and we could use all the help we could get."

Lee saluted to her.

"Yes Ma'am!"

Dinah laughed while Naruto just smiled.

"Lee I know that you're trying to be nice but she's an ally. Not your commander."

"What he said but I appreciate the sentiment." said Dinah.

Lee nodded and moved to the Zeta-Tube and waited for her.

"I know this doesn't need to be said but are you okay working with Green Arrow in spite of what is going between you two?" asked Naruto bracing for the response.

"You're right you don't need to ask." said Dinah. "Oliver and I can still work together, at least I hope, without it being awkward. It helps that Roy will be there as well. More to the point, Star City has been my home for a few years. I won't abandon it."

"I'm sorry Dinah." Naruto apologized. "I just had to be sure."

She touched his arm.

"I know Naruto. You're being a friend just looking out for me while also making sure I can keep my head on mission."

She moved to join Lee and activated the Zeta-Tube.

"That kinda what leaders do!" she called out.

"I'm only second in-"

They both disappeared from sight.

"-command." he uttered. Frustrated he donned his uniform and flew towards where the Bio-Ship was docked to meet up with his team.

He flew into the ship to see the rest of the team all in their seats.

"Everyone ready?" he questioned.

"We are as prepared as we are going to be." said Kaldur. Naruto noticed the bag on him.

"What's in there?" he asked more than a little worried.

"Plan B." said Kaldur.

' **It's the Helmet of Fate.'**  Kuramagrowled.  **'I could sense that thing from a mile away after our encounter with Nabu.'**

' _Kaldur probably thinks to have it if they have to fight this Wotan person.'_ Naruto responded.

' **We need to make sure it doesn't come to that. We still don't have a good choice for who should put that thing on yet.'** said the tailed beast.

' _Agreed.'_ said Naruto. He then spoke up to his friends.

"I better get prepared then." said Naruto. From there he pointed his ring to the right and summoned what looked like a miniature black hole. From it came his power battery as it came to his outstretched left hand. The rest of the team looked on in surprise at what they saw.

"Whoa." said Kid Flash in his costumes stealth mode. "We always heard about how Green Lanterns needed to recharge their rings via their batteries but none of us knew where you put them. Never mind that you guys had a pocket dimension to put them in."

"Very observant Wally." said Naruto. "From what I was told it seemed like the best place to put the thing that we needed to charge our batteries in the safest place possible. I was a little shocked myself when I found out how they did it."

The shinobi took a breath, turned his right hand into a fist, and placed the ring into the battery.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's lights!"

Immediately after saying the oath he could feel the battery charging his ring. What felt like forever but was only a minute his ring was charged.

"I have to admit that never gets old." said Naruto placing the battery back into the small hole. The battery disappeared back from whence it came and the hole vanished.

"So all it takes to recharge it is saying the oath?" asked Artemis.

"Yep." said Naruto taking his seat near the window.

"Then we are as ready as we are going to be." said Kaldur. "Miss Martian take us out."

The martian did so. The bioship lifted off the ground of the hangar, cloaked, and flew off towards their destination.

Naruto looked out the window seeing them pass over Happy Harbor.

' _I only hope that we are truly ready.'_ he thought to himself thinking about all that had been done to this point with training the team. Little did he realize those same thoughts were plaguing his team mates

**(Kid Flash)**

Wally sat his in seat thinking of the the drills he had been running for months. Everyday after getting home from school and after getting something, or somethings in his case, to eat he went to Mount Justice. As per agreed with Naruto, Dinah, the toads, and now their newest trainer Rock Lee, he would train through the same drills.

Running drills to be exact. While kicking a stone.

He remembered finally being frustrated and stopped for a second turning to his trainers.

"What is the point of this?" he asked in frustration.

"The point of this exercise to get you to shorten your stride in order to make sure your lead leg is in line with your center of gravity." said Lee.

"Okay how will this help me with my maneuvering?" Wally questioned still not getting the point.

"It will make it possible for you to pivot quickly without having you slow your pace. Since you haven't been making much progress, what with the toads basically able to trip you up every fifth time forcing you to slow down, we figured this might help." said Naruto.

Wally just looked flabbergasted and confused. Naruto facepalmed and turned to Dinah.

"Dinah maybe you can tell him what you told me about it. You came up with the idea after all."

"It's a concept used in the same way an ice skater spins faster when they pull in their limbs but slow down when they hold them outstretched Wally." she explained. "Mainly with you having to make a short stride to set up the kick of the stone and blasting through with the next step. This should be able to help you find your center and from there be able to pivot quickly and more easily when running at fast speeds. And thus making it harder for your opponents to hit you while at the same time finding new avenues of attack and maneuvering."

The speedster took what she was saying and nodded.

"When you put it like that I guess I can keep trying." he said.

With that he went into his training with new gusto and as he thought about those days he had hoped that the training would start to bear fruit for the coming battle.

**(Miss Martian)**

Megan was at the controls trying her best to remain calm while flying the ship. She thought about her own trials and she prayed that she wouldn't get herself, her team, most importantly Conner, hurt. She hoped that the training that she through would help.

The niece of Miss Martian had gone through some of the most strenuous training she ever went through. She was instructed to train all aspects of what Naruto, Lee, and Dinah would be her best weapons in a fight. Two of them, which they deemed her primary abilities, were her telepathy and telekinesis.

For the former she went into Naruto's mindscape to face either him or Kurama in sparring matches. She had thought her battle with Psymon was one of her most difficult battles aside from the occasional mental spar with her uncle.

Both of her teachers proved otherwise as she was trounced by Kurama in five minutes flat. Naruto took a little longer just to ascertain what she learned though he let the giant fox take over the majority of the training for her.

Despite this the tailed beast proved to be an excellent teacher with the shinobi gauging her progress.

The third aspect that Naruto wanted her to work one was her shapeshifting. Being able shift on the fly was something of a staple of her uncle in battle from what she told him. So he decided to spar with her in order for her to get that same level of refinement.

At least that was the thought as she stared up from being on her back.

"Are you done feeling sorry for yourself?" said Naruto trying to to motivate her while holding out his hand to help her back to her feet. She took it albeit grudgingly.

"I think my bruises have bruises." said M'gann rubbing her sore neck.

"It's a good thing I'm calling it for the day then." said the shinobi. "Just be aware that in a real fight the enemy isn't going to care how tired you are. So you have to learn to ignore it when the time comes."

"You, Dinah, and Lee have all said that my primary weapons in battle are my telekinesis and my telepathy. So what is the point of me doing this?" she asked. Naruto chuckled.

"What's funny?"

"Wally asked me the same thing." said Naruto turning serious. "The reason is I want you to have all your bases covered. Which means I want you to have as many weapons at your disposal. Never rely on just thing that you know you can use. I'm not saying that you haven't been making strides or that your primary abilities aren't important. They are. But you need to be as prepared as possible."

"Kinda like what happened with Psimon." said M'gann remembering Bialya.

"More than just that." said Naruto. "Say an opponent rather fights on a physical level but has strong mental barriers like I do. And say that this person or person's are strong enough to move aside what you throw at them using telekinesis. Learning to do what your Uncle does in battle will help you prepare for that."

"I guess." said M'gann.

"That being said you have to be able to use your abilities to your own discretion." said Naruto. "I'm not trying to make you a carbon copy of your uncle M'gann. But he is one of the main sources that you can look to into how to use your abilities to the best that you can."

M'gann nodded in understanding.

"Now I don't know about you but I'm hungry." said the shinobi bringing back some levity to the situation.

M'gann smiled and they headed to kitchen. As they did she thought about what he said.

' _What he said makes sense. I only hope that I can live to what he and the others hope I can be.'_

**(Kaldur)**

Kaldur was sitting in the center looking through the view screen as they flew towards the Bayou. He remembered talking to Naruto about trying to make strategies ahead of time and to remember to consult with him since he was now his second in command albeit grudgingly.

' _He should be in command as far as I am concerned.'_ the Atlantean thought to himself. He even brought this to Naruto's attention.

"The team chose you Kaldur. Not me." said Naruto. "And that stays until they say otherwise. Kami I hope they don't say otherwise. You know at least three of them better than I do and they both wanted the job. Eventually they conceded on that first mission we had together. Don't doubt that decision now."

Kaldur had agreed to what his second in command was saying but he could not help shake the feeling if they had the vote now they would pick him. He knew enough about Naruto that he was trying to actively not let that happen.

"If you are afraid of not making the right call then there is nothing wrong with that. But you cannot let it take hold. Embrace that fear and turn it into something you can use to help our team. Anger is a good place but any emotion or strategy will do the job." Naruto explained.

Kaldur nodded at that moment. From there he trained by himself on his off time. Not in just swordplay or martial arts but in something that Naruto mentioned.

The reason he was underwater with the tattoos on his arms glowing as he held out his hands and concentrated grunting with the effort of trying to change the water around him into a shape like he saw Naruto did with his water jutsu.

So far he was having little success. The water shaped but not in the way he was hoping it would. He finally stopped and took a breath.

' _It is not as easy as he made it look to be.'_ he thought to himself. He got an idea and grabbed his water bearers and concentrated again using his weapons and remembered something else that his second in command said.

"Be aware of something else Kaldur and this applies to everyone who thinks fear is a weakness myself included. Fear is only the precursor to valor. To strive in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero. Not feeling fear isn't true courage. It's feeling fear but overcoming it and in the process using it to your advantage."

As he remembered this his tattoos glowed bright and he managed to change the water around him into a dragon. Not as crisp as the one Naruto conjured but it was there.

Kaldur couldn't help but smile at his progress. A smile he had as he sat in his seat for the coming battle.

**(Artemis)**

All Artemis could think on as she was sitting in her seat at how many times she changed the gears in her bow. During the time when she was adjusting her arrows she figured she might as well adjust her composite bow as well. The trick was finding the right gears so that it would not affect the balance of her chosen weapon.

The need for gears came from the fact that for some reason her strength had increased. But only when she was using her bow. One day she was practicing with it and she nearly shattered the bow when firing at a practice target. When she asked Oliver about it he explained that with her newly awakened strength she could use a more powerful bow or she can put gears into one she used to help with the draw weight.

She went with the latter because she was already familiar with her weapon and getting a new bow could mean having to adjust. Granted with the gears she would need to adjust but she assumed that it would be easier with the bow she had. It still did not explain this unconscious thing that was happening when she fired her bow for she did not experience this phenomenon in other situations.

Turning in her seat she looked to Naruto who sat close to Kaldur. She looked at him talking to their leader and remembered asking him in private about what was going on.

He thought about what she said.

"Sounds like the chakra that I infused into you when I tested you guys to see if you could even develop a chakra network just have started to become active. In your case from a subconscious level its it's being channeled to your arm and back muscles." he surmised.

"But why can't I control it?" she asked.

"My best guess is that it only becomes active if your subconscious believes itself to be in danger or getting ready for battle. Fortunately its it's only a slight increase for now otherwise I would be concerned about you crushing someone." someone." said Naruto.

This brought a sudden fear to the young archer looking down at her hands. The shinobi quickly but calming hands on her shoulders.

"It's going to be okay Artemis. You came to us early about this. Lee and I will start having you train and practice using your chakra to enhance your muscles so that you will do it consciously. I myself use this to enhance my own strength. By the time we are done the only ones you will be harming are your enemies."

Those words and the intent behind them had gotten the archer to calm down and relax.

As she thought on those weeks that Naruto had trained her to do she hoped that this new ability would help against the Injustice League.

**(Robin)**

Robin looked down at his batarangs. He had been on missions before to take down Gothams rogues gallery. Two of them were with this new Injustice League. The Joker, Batman's greatest nemesis. And Poison Ivy. Who was arguably the most powerful.

And they joined up with several other powerful villains. In his mind from a tactical standpoint this was a job for the Justice League.

Yet his mentor sent him and the team to take them and their control center out. He had to believe that they were ready.

As he looked down at the batarangs in his hand he was reminded of his own training by their resident Green Lantern and his friend. Unlike some of the others it wasn't always inside Mount Justice.

"Remember to concentrate." said Lee as the memory played out in the boy wonder's head.

He nodded and jumped through the air concentrating on directing his batarangs on the different targets that were set up across the forests. Getting them to clang against each other via wire that Naruto provided from his own ninja tool kit to help with their trajectory.

He landed and they counted how many of the targets he managed to hit.

"Six out of ten." said Naruto using his clones to find all the targets. "Much better than the first time."

"And after only doing using the maneuver three times. It is impressive Robin." said Lee.

Robin looked up at them with a grimace.

"Still not perfect though." he said. "I still can't anticipate the batarangs in time before they clang against each other. How am I supposed to calculate the trajectory on the spot like that?"

"Chances are not least not with that as attitude." said Naruto. "Try to remember that these maneuvers were made by a guy who was like a prodigy from a clan that had a significant edge with their eyes having a gekki genkai."

Walking to the boy wonder he put a hand on his shoulder.

"But if there is anything me and Lee have said and done its it's not impossible. You need to rely on both what you calculate with your mind and your instinct. The latter part especially. If you can find that balance then all you have to do is let your body do the rest."

Robin nodded in confirmation.

"Alright then." then." said Lee. "You will keep doing the exercise five more times before we call it a day. With any luck you will see further improvement!"

Robin groaned as his body was wearing down. But after seeing Naruto not disagreeing with him he moved back into position using the chakra he had left to once again bolster his aching muscles.

Having his mind back to the present the boy wonder hoped that he could keep that resolve for the mission ahead.

**(Superboy)**

The boy of steel sat in his seat stewing about the battle to come and thinking of all the training that Naruto had done with the inclusion of his new big brother Clark aka Superman.

He smiled at hearing himself say that. And the memory of being introduced to the Fortress of Solitude. And to be given his full kryptonian name. Kon-El.

"Focus Kon-El." he heard his brother and now mentor as Connor himself and Naruto were sparing. He do so as he put his hand on the ground. Extending his Tactile Telekinetic field he made the ground explode towards the Lantern. Said shinobi jumped into the to the opposite side of the field avoiding the attack.

Connor grunted in frustration at missing his target and charged forward. Channeling the same energy into his hands he punched with more force and speed then he would normally not possess if he relied solely on his physiology.

Naruto immediately put up a barrier to block in the coming blows. To his surprise he felt and saw the cracks to his barrier from the blows of the young man.

"Very good Connor." said Naruto. Connor smirked in pride. That is until the cracked shield seemed to fold around his fist and wrap around and threw to the other side of the room.

"I'm training too," Naruto quipped.

Connor grimaced and tried hitting again but barrier only slightly cracked this time before it folded on his fist once again and throwing to the ground on his back.

A female voice soon spoke up.

"Remember to expect the unexpected in battle young man."

Naruto and Connor turned to see Diana aka Wonder Woman join them.

"And to not expect your enemy to fight fairly." said Clark putting his two cents in as well.

"I know." Connor grumbled. "I just didn't expect him to start bending his barrier constructs like that."

He turned to Naruto.

"What's with you doing that anyway?"

"After the Amazo fight I started to think that I might face opponents strong enough to smash the barrier I put up. It's a common enough thing if the accounts of Hal and John are sufficient. And while my barriers are stronger than theirs it will most likely happen to me as well."

"So you figure instead of blocking you would be catching your enemy's attack and throwing them or redirecting it." said Diana

Naruto nodded.

"It would also use some of their momentum against them adding their force to the counter attack." he further explained.

Clark smiled at that.

"A well conceived idea. And I'm assuming that you believe Connor is reaching that level of strength now."

"Yep." said Naruto looking to Connor. "Thanks to the additional training from you Clark. Or is it Kal?"

"Either is good."said the Man of Steel walking over and putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You've made impressive strides since we started Connor. You still have some ways to go but you will get there."

"Yeah like being able to actually fly." said Connor.

"All in good time." said Clark. "Now we got one more training session with Diana in grappling then we will call it a day."

Connor groaned at that.

"Great. Now I guessed tossed around like a rag doll, again."

They laughed at that with Connor having a smile while saying this.

"Speaking of which." said Naruto. "How is it that you have access to this place Diana?"

"Kal gave me a key to the Fortress not long after we formed the League. I was actually the first before he gave one to Batman." she responded.

"Really? Huh." said Naruto. Diana put her hands on her hips.

"And what is it that you seem to imply?"

"Nothing. It just shows that he trusts you. Quite a bit I might add." said Naruto.

"I would trust Diana with my life." said Clark.

"Just find it interesting that's all." said Naruto

"And that is something from what I have heard from Connor that the team shares with you. Curious since you have been with them for such a short time." time." said Clark.

"If they have given me that trust then I will honor it." said Naruto.

"And more than a little curious. There are those among your team that have worked together since before you all came together. Yet you quickly earned their trust." said Diana.

Naruto remained silent. She took that as her leave to continue.

"Despite the fact that we simply don't know that much about you or your abilities. Your battle with Amazo we saw a glimpse. And it's gotten some of us worried."

"If it does you have an easy answer to that." said Naruto pointing at Diana's lasso of truth.

"I said some not all of us Naruto. I was there when you saved Prince John from his suffering and gave him peace. I know your valor. So does the League. As far as I'm concerned I don't need the my lasso. You have your secrets but then we all do."

"Seconded." said Superman now stepping in. "Connor told me what you have done for him and this team. Fact is unless you called me out on it I would never have had time to actually get to know him. And would have never found the little brother that I never knew I wanted."

Connor looked at what's going on ready to come to Naruto's defense. But the young half-breed almost teared up at that. He shook his head.

"Well this all well and good but I like to get started on Diana training me. Aka her kicking my ass."

"Language Connor." said Superman

That made all of them blink for a second.

"I'm sorry, did he just say 'language'?" Connor questioned.

That made Clark think for a moment.

"Yeah on second thought never mind. That just came out."

"Yes well Connor shall we?" said Diana gesturing to the training area. Connor groaned.

"Don't groan. And please remember your 'language'." Diana said with teasing smile to Clark.

The Man of Steel made a very similar if not the same type of groan as Connor.

"That's not going away anytime soon."

"Don't give the lady ammunition." said Naruto with a laugh.

**The Bayou: Injustice League Control Center. Present day.**

The Joker was wearing gloves with sensors controlling each of the plant monsters. On the monitors he and the rest of his colleagues could see the destruction that they were making across the world as well as the members of the Justice League destroying or fighting the monsters.

The clown prince of crime had already unleashed a combined version of Joker venom gas with Kobra venom. The latter increased the strength of the plants while it dispersed it spores upon their defeat. The spores would then release his Joker gas killing the populace by having them laugh to death.

"Kobra venom has nothing on good old Joker venom!" he laughed.

"And they are a potent mix when put together." said Count Vertigo.

"Yes." said the voice of Poison Ivy as she walked to the tree that was the transmitter for the rest of the plant monsters. The 'mother' as it were. "But it's putting a deep strain on my baby."

She went to the plant and start using her powers to help soothe the plant. From there Ultra-Humanite was providing liquids and checking on its biosignature as Wotan enacted a spell to help Ivy in her efforts.

"We shall keep her safe and healthy Ivy." he said. "But she requires more power. Skull!"

As soon as he said this Atomic Skull at his station started funneling power into the transmitter. The effect was instantaneous as the plant soon sprang gigantic new leaves and its power grew.

Count Vertigo smiled as he looked on.

"It's astonishing what a little teamwork can accomplish." The proximity alarm soon sounded off.

"Intruder alert!" he called out. "Adam with me!"

Black Adam moved towards Vertigo grimacing as he carried a battle axe with him as they left the base. The axe had a double-headed blade which Adam could clearly see had minor magical enhancements judging from the glowing runes that adorned the oak tree hilt of it.

"This is not how I usually go into battle Vertigo." he said gesturing to the two handed weapon.

"Vandal gave his instructions Adam. He wished to test the mettle of this new Green Lantern that we have been hearing about. What you hold is a minor relic to help prove at least his proficiency in using his ring."

Adam grimaced again but nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry." Vertigo said with a smile. "Do your part and we will help you find what you have lost."

Black Adam's face turned from a grimace of disgust to stone cold resolve after hearing that. He then grabbed the Count and flew into the air as they moved towards the ones foolish enough to try and stop his plans. His hopes.

**(The Bioship)**

' **Naruto.'** said Kurama getting the young ninjas attention.

' _What is it old friend?'_

' **Just a friendly reminder of what we are doing and why we are here on this world.'**

Naruto knew what the tailed beast was referring to. Ganthet had told him it was to make allies here on Earth. For what even the Guardian did not know. But it was clear that it would be for something far down the future.

' **So knowing that; If you let the Team get hurt because you're hiding your power, the League may never forgive you.'**

' _You're right. And given who we will be up against I can't afford to, given how worried everyone is. Guess I'll just have to muddle through the best I can,'_  Naruto answered the fox.

Naruto suddenly felt a spike of awareness in Kurama.

' **Naruto, They…'**

' _Know we're here,'_  Naruto finished.

Looking over the rest he knew what he had to do.

"We need to stop the ship here." he called out.

Everyone looked to him.

"Naruto what is it?" asked Aqualad.

"The Injustice League knows we are here. Or at least that intruders have entered their perimeter." the shinobi answered moving to the center of the ship.

"Dude how do you know that?" asked Kid Flash.

"Kurama sensed an intent to kill coming in this direction. We don't have much time." said Naruto. "Miss Martian of you can open a hatch?"

She did so and a hole opened up on the floor.

"I am assuming you have a plan?" asked Robin.

"I'm going to cloak, leave the ship, then fly ahead and uncloak. You guys will land the ship farther away from me. Split into groups and destroy their transmitter while I get what I hope is at least one of their heavy hitters attention on me." Naruto explained.

"That's sounds great Naruto but that would leave you facing whoever that is alone." remarked Artemis.

"Yeah man we can't just leave you to the wolves." said Kid Flash. That got a growl out Wolfe who joined the mission with his new pack.

"Present company excluded."

"Regardless of how we feel I believe Naruto's plan is sound. We have a mission to complete." said Aqualad taking charge. "Besides it is become painfully clear that no one, not even Superboy, is more equipped to handle this situation than Naruto is."

' **He doesn't know the half of it.'** said Kurama.

"Are we all clear then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but are you still sure you don't want to be squad leader?" Kaldur asked, amusedly.

Naruto grimaced before replying, "You're still going to be giving orders on the ground anyway," feeling somewhat defensive. "Good luck guys."

The Green Lantern cloaked and dropped out of the hole that Miss Martian created. He then proceeded to fly towards the source of killing intent that was nearing. As he did the bioshop flew in the opposite direction in order to land.

As he stopped and landed he could not help but feel anticipation at what was about to happen.

' _For the first time since I went to Betrassus I get to cut loose a little bit. To actually be able to try against an enemy.'_

' **Me too kid. So shall we get to it?'** Kurama asked as eager as his host was.

Naruto smirked under his mask as he decloaked. And then he transformed into Kurama mode for the first time letting the green colored chakra surrounded him and ignite his body like a beacon to anyone coming his way as seals came upon his body with horns sprouting from his forehead protector. The symbol on his chest still the Green Lantern symbol only the white color of it brightened.

**(Oa)**

"Guardians." called out Salaak from his console.

"What is it Clarissi?" said Ganthet calling him by his title.

"You wanted to be informed of if and when the strange energy from Green Lantern Naruto was active again. Well whatever he did in the Betrassian Blitz has just become active again." said Salaak albeit reluctantly.

"Well then perhaps we might get a better understanding of our young lantern's abilities today." said Appa eager to hear the report.

As Salaak was busy with his console gathering readings Ganthet himself could not help but worry over his young charge.

' _Something is happening if Naruto needs to show his power today. What could he facing down on Earth that prompted him to show a glimmer of his full strength?'_

The Guardian knew that Earth has more than its fair share of powerful individuals and not all fought with the Justice League.

"Ganthet are you not going to join us?" asked Appa. Sayd looked at Ganthet as well although from her expression she too was worried.

"Of course Appa." he said. But as he did he once again thought to himself.

' _Be wary young man.'_

**(Louisiana Bayou)**

Black Adam and Count Vertigo didn't need to fly too far when a bright green energy suddenly sparked from out of nowhere.

"What the hell is that!?" said the Count.

"If I had to guess? An invitation." said Black Adam directing them to the source of the light. What they saw gave them a moment of pause as the target of interest on this team of children stood before them and found the person in question that was practically on fire.

' **They're here kid. Get ready.'** said Kurama. Naruto looked to the direction of killer intent that his old friend had sensed. Sure enough two figures landed. The one that was flying landed and put the other down. From the distance he could see that the two figures were Count Vertigo and Black Adam. Although what was seemed off was that Adam was wielding a battle axe.

' _No matter.'_ he thought to himself conjuring a green bastard sword construct which like the rest of his was in a green fire state.

He saw the big man clutch the battle axe and charge at him. Naruto did the same. The two combatants flying at each other faster than the eye could see. A clash and a shockwave emitted from their weapons that was felt across the bayou.

The battle was now on.

**(Star City)**

Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Arrow along with Lee were on a bridge fighting the plant creature there while trying to keep the civilians safe.

The heroine used her Canary Cry to stop a plant monster from attacking a school bus destroying it in the process. Another seemingly cropped up behind it and attacked her with a vine knocking her off the bus. As it came down to finish her Lee sliced it in half with is kunai. Both hero and former protege blasted it with exploding arrows giving her time to get back on her feet.

"Thanks Lee." she said.

"You're quite welcome Black Canary." said Lee remembering what Naruto told him about the heroes using their code names to protect their identities. "I actually have a question for you about relationships if and when you find it convenient."

"Sure but right now we have bigger and more immediate concerns." she said pointing at the plant monster that the Arrow's were pelting with their attacks.

"Ah. One moment." said Lee with confidence.

Meanwhile back at the base Joker was watching on seeing this action on his screen at Star City.

"Poor heroes. Nothing they do is quite enough. Ain't it grand!" he laughed.

"And impressive. How you manage to juggle so many scenarios." Ivy pointed out while petting a branch of the transmitter tree.

"I've had practice juggling my many personalities." said the clown. He watched as a newcomer stood in front of the monster. A young man with a strange bowl like haircut. Suddenly he burst out with a green aura and moved forward with amazing speed. In what seemed like second the tree was nothing green tree trunks as this boy chopped and sliced it to bits.

"I just said 'nothing they do is enough'!" he yelled at the screen.

"What's wrong?" asked Ivy.

"Some kid just diced up one of the plant monsters in seconds that's what." the Joker said. Suddenly there was boom that shook the complex.

"Now what?"

"Something's going on out there." said Ivy.

Back in Star City the three of them, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Red Arrow were stunned as the threat had been neutralized. Canary herself looked on as for one moment Lee burst out in a green aura screaming as his skin became red. The next thing she knew he had destroyed the plant monster easily.

What made it even more astonishing was how Lee was casually walking back to them with a notebook and pen he pulled from his ninja tool kit.

"So do you have time to ask those question now? I think that was the last of them."

Dinah stood in shock before shaking her head and pulling him aside as the archers just stood there their mouths open wide.

"I'll do my best to answer."

**(Louisiana Bayou)**

"Will someone please just tell me what just happened!?" the Joker screamed at looking at Star City.

"Forget about that for now and focus on the other cities." said Wotan. "Speaking of visuals."

Wotan casted a spell. Suddenly an image came into being showing the young team of sidekicks doing their best to travel silently through the bayou.

' _To find our base no doubt.'_ he thought to himself. As he looked on to where Adam and Vertigo were he saw Vertigo standing there unable to do anything as Adam fought against this new Green Lantern at speeds that Wotan could not keep up with.

"Change of plans." he called out. "Ivy and Ultra-Humanite with me. Joker and Atomic Skull stay and keep the transmitter operational."

"Is that really necessary?" asked Ivy

"Yes. Something has changed the equation. We must take out the children before they get to the transmitter." said Wotan

Ivy wanted to disagree but the prospect of her baby being destroyed was enough to convince her.

"Don't worry kids. I have everything under my control." Joker laughed as he worked his gloved hands to control the plant monsters.

"Enough. Let's go." said Wotan. The ape left immediately following the sorcerer. Ivy looked on her beloved tree before following them.

Back in the center of the bayou stood Naruto and Adam. Their weapons clashing in the air as they attacked each other with such speed and force that Vertigo could not even see them.

"Should have stayed in the command center." he said to himself. "Adam! Get him within visual so I can attack!"

Naruto for his part blocked one attack from the magic infused axe while deftly parrying another before making a side sweep with his sword construct. He didn't hit but the force of the attack force Adam back onto the ground. Naruto landed in front and rushed him. As he did he suddenly felt very dizzy and finding it hard to stay on balance or concentrate.

' **Naruto to your left!'** called out Kurama. He did so seeing Vertigo with his eyes closed as if in concentration. Naruto grunted in annoyance as he made his sword disappear and fired a beam right at him. Knowing the blast would be more powerful being in Kurama form he aimed at the ground that the villain was standing on. The force of the explosion sent Vertigo flying as he landed hard onto the ground unconscious.

Though it was not in time as Adam managed to strike him with the axe. He grunted but managed to block a fatal blow. Flying through the air he stopped himself. He saw the villain coming after him. Instantly he brought back his longsword construct. He held it in both hands and swiped it down on his enemy.

"Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu!"

Black Adam could feel the wind shifting around the Green Lantern as if he was the eye of a hurricane. He didn't know what was going on but something was going to happen. He stopped and braced himself. But that didn't stop the surprise as blade of wind erupted from his opponents blade and crashed into him. He felt the blow gash him as he plummeted to the ground in a large crater. Spitting out blood he looked at his chest to see a large gash down his chest.

What made it worse was how much it hurt and how slow to heal it was.

' _What kind of magic does he possess that can do this?'_ he thought to himself. He didn't get a chance to answer as he saw Naruto approach him with incredible speed.

Vertigo awoke to hear the clanging and shockwaves of battle as he watched, or tried to, the battle between the two. It was then that he realized something. They were getting further away from their base!

"Adam finish off the Lantern! The rest of the delinquents are heading to our base to destroy the transmitter!"

" _Go then!"_ Adam said over the intercom  _"I will hold him off."_

Vertigo realized at that point that Adam might not be able to defeat the boy so he did as his colleague advised and ran off.

Adam focused on the battle as he parried the Lantern's attack sending both weapons into the ground together. He then back handed the boy but he responded with a head butt to the face cracking his nose. Naruto then managed to dislodge their weapons and attacked again with Adam barely dodging it. Naruto went for a side swipe on his opponents left flank charging wind chakra into the construct.

At the same time Adam charged more of his own magic into the axe and the two attacks met and were once again stuck in a bind as they pushed against each other. Adam's magic lightning with Naruto's wind chakra with two causing a lightning storm as they clashed with neither force giving in to the other.

Throughout the fight Naruto had sensed something going on with Adam. His attacks were strong and precise but there was a desperation in the way he was fighting.

Suddenly from out of nowhere in his mind he saw a brief glimpse of a woman. One he had never seen before with long dark hair and deep brown eyes dressed and built like a goddess. A name came out though not from his mouth. Naruto shook his head and looked directly at Black Adam.

"Who is Isis?" he blurted out.

The question seemed to shock Black Adam as the shinobi surmised before his face turned to rage as he pushed more magic into his axe forcing Naruto to do the same for his construct. Though they appeared even Naruto knew that his wind chakra was canceling out the magical lightning from his foe.

A crack is heard as both the Lanterns construct and Adam's axe were breaking from the strain. The villains axe however broke first and the energy channeled into explodes sending both of them flying.

Naruto lands on his ground while Adam skits on it a few meters before recovering. The axe he was wielding broken into pieces. He casts the pieces aside and charged at him.

Naruto was smiling under his mask as he cast aside his construct. It disappeared as soon as he let go of it and started making hand signs. The next thing his opponent saw was the Lantern blowing a fireball from his mouth directly at him. Adam punched at the ball of fire sending up into the air. He grimaced as he actually felt the heat from the ball of fire. He deflected another with his flight path only slowing down slightly as his next punch went to strike him only hitting air for the young man jumped into the air.

Adam barely had any time when he looked to see the boy come down on him with a ball of swirling green energy coming down upon him. His instincts told him that it would not be good to be hit with whatever the boy was bring down was going to hurt and barely twisted out of the way as the attack came crashing on the spot he was at. Using that momentum he twisted and let out a spinning roundhouse kick to Naruto's jaw. It hurt but he moved with the blow using his own flying ability to move with the blow.

He responded with a spinning kick of his own to the gut and a punch to Adam's jaw sending him reeling. The two then floated in the air staring at each other waiting for the next move.

"You surprise me boy. I'm not often surprised." said Black Adam.

"You're not the first person I have fought to tell me that. And you will not be the last." said Naruto. Both of them had a shallow cuts on them from their weapons. Naruto from his axe and Adam from his opponent's sword. They both could see the other as those cuts healed rather quickly as they talked showing them both their regenerative abilities. Naruto noticed however that the wound he left on Adam's chest was taking the longest time to heal.

' _Jutsu did more damage than I thought.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

Adam spat blood out of his mouth and wiped it with his hand. "We shall see about that."

He thrust his hand out and a lightning bolt struck Naruto in the chest. The shinobi yelled out in surprise and though the pain was intense it wasn't anything he hadn't felt before and his shroud shrugged off most of the damage. He recovers to see Adam approaching him.

"That looked like fun. My turn!"

Adam felt it again as he saw the boy making strange hand signs faster than the human eye could see. Blue lightning soon erupted from his hand.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Spear Jutsu!"

A spear of pure lightning erupted from the young man's hand and was thrown at Adam. The villain managed hold out his arms to block the attack but it still hit him with such force that he rarely felt from anyone save the strongest members of the Justice League. He was flown by what felt like several miles away before correcting himself.

Adam looked around to try and find his enemy while still be dazed from the lightning attack. Which was also strange since it was lightning he shouldn't be feeling anything at all. Suddenly the whole sky seemed to turn green. He looked up to see Naruto above him with another ball of swirling energy.

Difference was this was the size of a small mountain as he saw the boy bring it down upon him. He barely had any time before he put his hands out to try and stop the approaching attack. As soon as he touched it he felt his hands being burned and sliced at the same time while he was being pushed. The power of this attack was nothing he had come to expect and he knew if he didn't do something he was going to be pushed back on the ground where he might just die from the attack.

' _He wouldn't dare. Would he?'_

The fear in that thought and from not accomplishing what he hoped to do in order to have the one person he loved back gave him the strength to lift and push the attack into the sky.

For Naruto's part he pushed with all his might on the attack only to be surprised as Adam deflected it into the sky. With smoking hands he came at the young lantern and tackled him into the ground. Adam had one knee on his left arm and grasped Naruto's right hand which is where his power ring was. He was now using his right hand to try and choke him to death. Fortunately, Naruto had enough sense left to use his shroud to produce a fist straight from his chest that slammed into Adam. Before he got far that same chakra arm grabbed his foot and pulled him in as Naruto stood up and smashed his face in with a haymaker sending him into a nearby lake with a crack of thunder and a loud splash.

Naruto took that moment to breathe.

' _This is worse than the Amazo fight. Machine was stupid this guy isn't.'_ he thought to himself as the bruises, cuts, and whatever damage that he had suffered healed albeit slowly from their severity.

Rising up from the muddy waters rose Black Adam. Water and blood dripping into the water below as his own wounds were also healing. What caught Naruto's eye was the big gash across his opponent's chest was taking the longest to heal.

' **This whole fight he's been having trouble with your chakra. Keep using that.'** said Kurama. As Naruto was thinking on that and his next move and explosion erupted in the distance.

" _Naruto we've taken out the transmitter. The Injustice League is in bound heading for-ahhh!"_

The mental transmission from M'gann cut off.

" _Miss Martian come in. M'gann!"_

' **Times up we gotta go Naruto!'** said Kurama to Naruto's agreement.

"Sorry Adam can't play no more." said Naruto. Adam didn't seem to listen to the taunt as he flew at Naruto. The shinobi flew ahead with his back to him sending construct walls to try and slow him down. Each wall took Adam three punches to break before Naruto through another. Adam tried punching it again but this time it folded on him. Naruto used that to throw him some distance away before blasting a ring blast at Adam sending him further away. He turned and flew towards the explosion.

"NOOOO!"

Naruto heard that in the direction he sent Adam but he kept going as the chase was now on.

**(Moments Earlier)**

Robin and Miss Martian moved quietly through the forest hoping that the sounds of what they could ascertain as their Green Lantern providing their distraction as they got closer to the transmitter's location.

Suddenly plant like tentacles sprouted around him grabbing him and Miss Martian even though she was cloaked.

"Hello." said a feminine voice. The boy wonder didn't need to see her to know that it was Poison Ivy. He turned to confirm it was her with her hands on her hips with a smirk on her face. Next to her was Ultra-Humanite with a bazooka targeted right at them.

"And goodbye."

Robin channeled his chakra into his right arm breaking free of the trap. A second later he throws a batarang at Ultra-Humanite hitting the bazooka just as he fired it sending the missile into the air and exploding.

At that same time all of them saw the ground explode towards both villains. The managed to get out of the way but it disrupted Ivy's concentration enough that the tentacles lost their hold on Miss Martian and Robin.

"Get going!" called out the voice of Superboy. They did so with the boy of steel looking directly at Ivy and the Ultra-Humanite. The ape he was especially eyeing.

"I hate monkeys." he said with Wolfe at his side as they moved together attacking them with Wolfe biting at the ape's shoulder and Superboy following up with a punch sending him flying.

Before he could continue he was blasted by a form of energy that actually hurt. Superboy looked up to see Wotan.

' _Magic. No wonder Clark doesn't like it.'_ he thought to himself.

He soon saw a blur as Kid Flash took his place and followed up what he was going to do as the speedster starting punching Ultra-Humanite.

Ivy shook her head to shake off the effects of Superboys attack. She used her vines to rise above the ground and throw the speedster off the ape. Before she could do anything else she heard whistling in the air. Turning she saw a pair of arrows fly at her. She caught them in her vines only for them to explode knocking her off her perch.

Artemis drew her bow again only for her suddenly feel dizzy as Vertigo appeared using his visor to disorient her. Once again though his position was exposed leaving Kid Flash to distract him by ripping a piece from his cape.

"Souvenir!" he yelled out running away towards the ape. His back to him Vertigo launched another wave at him. Kid Flash felt the effect starting to happen and he felt himself start to slow down but the training he had been under since Naruto arrived kicked in as he weaved to the side avoiding the punch that Ultra-Humanite had waiting for him. That maneuver had the added effect of Vertigo's attack now hitting the ape as Kid Flash ran to safety.

Both Vertigo and Ultra-Humanite were sent swimming as a controlled but powerful wave of water hit them before Vertigo could end his unintentioned attack on his ally. They both would have sent to the next county if not for Ivy using her plants as a wall blocking the flow as Aqualad stood with his water bearers. Said wall was broken through as he unleashed what looked like a dragon made of water blasted into it. The atlantean soon had to make a barrier of his own as Wotan struck back with a blast of mystic energy.

"These children are putting up more of fight then we estimated." said Wotan. He then formed a spell that levitated Aqualad. His own magic defenses not strong enough to stop the attack as the team's leader was thrown across the battlefield. Artemis standing in front giving cover fire as Superboy leapt into the air to try and blitz the sorcerer with punch only to be stopped mid air and cast aside just like Aqualad.

Having a moment to get his bearings he noticed among their enemy's number two were missing.

"Where are Robin and the martian!?"

"Oh no my baby!" cried out Ivy turning around to their command center. The others did as well and sure enough there were batarangs all over the tree beeping.

They all stopped beeping. A booming sound was heard as each batarang exploding sending the tree ablaze and tumbling down to the surface. And standing on its ruined remains was Robin and Miss Martian.

"Timber." said Robin.

Ivy screamed with rage as plant tentacles erupted from the ground attack the members they were fighting.

"Scatter!" ordered Aqualad. They all did their best to move out of the way from the attack though Artemis was knocked for a loop by a strike from one of the tentacles needing Kid Flash to get her out of the way of the next one that would have smashed her into paste.

Robin and Miss Martian had their own issues as Joker and Atomic Skull showed up with Skull sending energy blasts towards them. M'gann was blocking the barrage with a telekinetic shield but was struggling to hold it.

"Children?" questioned Joker. "Children foiled our plans!? Impossible! Unexceptable! Retributionable! That last one might not be a word. Sue me!"

"Kill them. Kill them all." said Vertigo pointing at them.

"Indeed. Enough is enough." said Wotan putting up a mystical barrier that blocked the arrows, batarangs and another water dragon attack from Aqualad with ease. He channeled his power into an attack that would surely destroy them.

Before he could unleash it they saw Black Adam float above them looking worse for wear.

"Adam you are just in time for the party! The slaughter party that is!" said Joker in his maniacal laughter.

If he heard the clown he didn't pay attention to it as he started to channel his energy. Lighting surrounded him and channeling into his hands into a ball of magical lighting.

But it wasn't directed at the team. Seconds later what looked like a green comet started heading towards them. Adam was floating in position to intercept.

"You should have stayed down!" said Naruto as he channeled his chakra. A massive swirling ball of chakra appeared along with three smaller spheres covered in a lattice of black lines and dots. They circled around the large one as they were summoned into his right hand. Naruto thrust it forward as Adam prepared to spear through the Lantern with a hand full of surging lightning magic.

"Planetary Rasengan!"

The two attacks collided striking with such force that it felt like the earth itself shook. Lightning and energy cracked the sky as everyone braced from the force of the attacks.

Adam for his part was in shock as his attack was matched. He pushed more but it was a struggle to do so.

"Finish the rest of them off!" said Vertigo.

Wotan was already doing so before the count made his command firing powerful lightning bolts on the team sending them all to the ground except for Aqualad who was doing his best to channel the attack but was hard pressed to do so.

The young atlantean managed to moved to Miss Martians position and channeled her lightning bolt off her. Lighting bolts channeled with both hands he looked down to her.

"Plan B."

Naruto was pushing with all his might to get the attack through but Adam stood his ground. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Wotan was blasting his team with lightning and knew time was running out. He needed a boost.

' _Kurama can you get into position?'_

' **Way ahead of you kid. I'm in the pose ready to channel nature energy. Just waiting on you!'**

From that moment Naruto could feel the natural energy surge into him as he entered into Sage mode.

At the same time Ivy could sense something going on in the forest. It was as if someone was controlling and using the energy of the forest itself. Not stealing it but just using it. She concentrated but could not pinpoint who it was that was doing it.

Her answer came as the clash above took a turn as Naruto broke the tie and planted Adam with the planetary rasengan breaking his own attack. The villain screamed as the attack planted into stomach feeling the swirling energy plant itself into his stomach while the seals of the magnet rasengan ensnared him. He was sent flying hundreds of yards before he slammed into the swampland, a great geyser of mud signaling the impact.

The Lantern assumed that put Adam out of commission as he fired a beam of energy from his ring at Wotan that was enhanced by the elemental energy from his sage mode along with the power of his Kurama form.

This move made the sorcerer stop his attack to dodge out of the way as everyone stared above at this being who was shrouded in green fire and strange symbols. Naruto looked upon them with his eyes in sage mode waiting for one of them to make a move.

Ivy stood shaking as she finally got to who it was that was channeling nature. But to her it was like staring at the center of the earth itself she was seeing. Screaming she tried to send as many tentacles at him as she could summon. Naruto waves his hand and uses a powered up Wind Scythe jutsu to slice the tentacles a part.

Wotan shook out of his stupor and floated higher into the air and fired lightning at the boy. Naruto simply put his hand out and stopped the attack in its tracks.

"You guys are so screwed now!" called out Superboy in excitement. Excitement that was shared by the rest of the team Naruto could feel. He smiled under his mask as he looked up at Wotan and flew up to meet him.

"That thing you did looked like fun. My turn!"

He made some hand signs that Wotan was confused with before his hand erupted in lighting.

"Chidori True Spear!" he thought to himself. The shinobi threw what appeared to be a spear of lightning that chirped like birds at Wotan. The sorcerer weaved his hands to try and counter this by absorbing the energy of the lightning as it hit him but the spell he was using was disabilized and shatter as he was sent flying. He looked down to see his hands becoming toad like as the nature energy he tried to control backfired. He could feel his face also changing.

"What is this magic!?" he cried out. Naruto responded with actions flashing through another set of hand signs before seemingly vanish in a blink of light. He reappeared above Wotan before his enemy could even register that the shinobi had even moved.

"Fire Style: Toad Flame Bomb!" he thought as he unleashed the fiery blast upon the mage. In a second Naruto shot a Wind Blade through the fireball, creating a blazing hot blade right before Wotan sending him sprawling down. Wotan was burnt and smoking from the attack but still conscious. Up until with speed he could not anticipate Naruto had conjured another Magnet style Rasengan and crashing into his stomach sending him crashing down to the earth below.

The Injustice League looked down on their fallen ally.

"He's strong...too strong." Those were the last words before Wotan became unconscious as the symbols appeared on his body keeping him in place in case he woke up.

Atomic Skull immediately fired a beam of energy at the young Lantern. Naruto deflected the beam with a wave of his hand as if it were nothing. He moved forward so fast that even Kid Flash could not see where he went. Suddenly he was behind Atomic Skull and hit him with a chop to the neck sending him into the water unconscious but still breathing.

Naruto made his trademark t-shaped hand sign. In an instant several clones of himself surrounded the remaining members of the Injustice League.

"Your heaviest hitters are down and out. The rest of you have two choices. You can either surrender peacefully or me and the clones can crush you where you stand. Either way you're going to prison. Or the asylum in some of your cases. Only difference is in how much pain you want to be in. Choice is yours."

The rest of them looked at each other and saw their odds. Before anyone could say anything an eruption of laughter came from behind them as the Joker walked past his colleagues.

"Bravo! Bravo!" he laughed clapping his hands, whistling and cheering. "An astounding performance! Ten out of Ten!"

It was this awkward tableau that the Justice League witnessed as they finally arrived. The young shinobi was worried that those among them, Batman in particular, would ask about his changed form. But if they did have questions they kept them to themselves at least until they dealt with the Injustice League though he did notice that Dinah, on her perch from Green Lantern John's platform construct, looked at him with more than a little curiosity.

As they landed on the ground Naruto joined them. Their numbers grown the clones disappeared in clouds of smoke and the shinobi himself returned to his normal form. The Joker seemed to laugh even harder now as he looked up at the League.

"This guy is awesome!" said the clown pointing at the young Lantern. "In fact he's so awesome you didn't need to send your pathetic sidekicks to come after us. The new kid could have taken us on by himself and the rest of the brat squad could have been helping you all save lives while you were battling our plant beasties. I can't help but wonder how many you let die just because you didn't do that?" he finished that last statement with a shrug indicating that he didn't care.

The rest of the team bristled at that. Naruto could tell they were all angry at the statement he just made. He shared that anger but he couldn't help but think that the Joker, twisted as it was, had something of a point. But then he remembered that his teammates managed to destroy the transmitter and fought the Injustice League to a standstill before Wotan showed off his power.

It was something that would need to be talked more about in the future.

"Awww did I hurt your feelings? Let's turn those frowns upside down!"

The villain started waving his fingers laughing as he did so. Naruto noticed that he had gloves on with glowing wires and the such. He put two and two and together and realized who it was that was actually directly controlling what the plant monsters did. And who was now unleashing that same gas that had killed so many from the vines under the base of the Injustice League.

"Joker venom spores. Don't breathe-"

Before Batman could finish a strong gust of wind came surrounded the area. All of the groups involved saw the source being Naruto as he quickly made hand signs and was directing the wind itself to send the gas upward into the sky. Once it was a safe distance above them he made another set of hand signs and fired a fireball from his mouth into gas cloud burning it to ash and making the poison inert.

Naruto glared at the Joker before towards him. Suddenly before he knew it he was on the ground and from the looks of things unable to move. On his back was a piece of paper with a seal on it.

"It took all my restraint to not snap his neck. Not just for him being an evil bitch but for what he said about my students." said Naruto. He looked to the rest of the Injustice League. "Anyone else have anymore surprise attacks or are we done?"

They held their hands up in surrender.

"There will be another day." said Vertigo as Captain Atom and Captain Marvel took them away with Zatara using his magic to lift Wotan but he strained and was unable to do so.

"Something is keeping him in place that is affecting my magic." he said.

"Oh sorry that's my fault actually." said Naruto. He reached out with his hand a released the Magnet style of the rasengan he used. Instantly, Wotan's unconscious body had lightened and the spell worked to lift him above the ground.

"Much obliged." said Zatara.

Batman looked to the rest of the team with Naruto joining them on the field.

"It's over. The super villain secret society has been neutralized. As for your performance it was more than satisfactory."

"Yeah thanks to our secret weapon!" said Kid Flash motioning to Naruto. "What did you just do with the whole green fire thing?"

"It's kind of of a long story Kid Flash." said Naruto trying to avoid the question.

"Oh c'mon I've never seen anything like that before! And in this business that's a rarity." said Kid Flash.

"None of us have." said Artemis. "I mean we all knew that you were holding back but you took out both Black Adam and Wotan."

"Perhaps it would be better to ask these questions back at the cave." said Aqualad.

"It's dryer there at least. Going to be a week before all the mud is out of my boots." said the female archer.

"But there will be more questions." said Batman. Naruto grimaced at that.

"At a later time. When the Green Lantern is ready." said Black Canary.

' _Thank you for the save Dinah.'_ Naruto thought to himself nodding in her direction.

"I saw Black Adam fall several hundred yards from this position. I'll go get him as well." said Superman seeing how things were starting to get tense.

"No." Naruto said. "I'll have a clone retrieve him. It'll save time."

' **Plus you have questions of your own right kid?'** said Kurama.

' _Damn straight on that Kurama.'_

"A clone? What if Adam tries something?" asked the Man of Steel.

"Don't worry. The attack I hit him with should have brought him down for good. Besides, I'll know if my clone is dispelled." said Naruto as he made the shadow clone. Immediately after he did so the clone began leaping towards the location Black Adam had impacted the landscape.

Discreetly Naruto reignited his chakra cloak only about his ring, connecting its power to Kurama's chakra, having recently thought of it as a means of letting his clones use his ring without needing to create a copy of it.

**(Clone Naruto's POV)**

Clone Naruto was soon perched next to the dictator, surprised that Adam had managed to move several inches crawling as though trying to escape despite the triple layered seal that had been applied to him.

"I'm surprised you're able to move at all given what you were hit with." said the clone.

Black Adam looked up to see the Lantern and bitterly laughed at the situation.

"So come to take me away to a prison of some sort I assume." he snarled. "Do it then boy. Get it over with."

The clone however just stood there looking at him.

"Well what are you waiting for?" asked Black Adam. Clone Naruto brought up his right hand. A band of green fire erupted where Naruto's ring would be as the clone channeled Kurama's power which the original had linked to his power ring. With this done, the clone was able to create a bubble around them.

"This barrier is sound proof. No one can hear what we say while we are in it." said Naruto.

"And this is supposed to matter how? You and your team of children have beaten us and I assume the League has arrived. You've foiled us so what do we have to talk about?" said Black Adam in frustration.

"Because I know you guys aren't the real secret society of supervillains. Reason I know this is because I didn't see Luthor or Ra's al Ghul among your ranks today." said Naruto.

Adam's eyes widened when he heard the shinobi say those names.

"You also called yourselves a different name then the one I've heard before. Which means you were just a group made as a distraction. Thanks to my team the League was starting to close in on this group so you guys were made to throw them and us off the trail. Might have worked too. If not for some due diligence on my part." Naruto explained.

Adam sighed and held his head in defeat.

"But I want is an answer to my earlier question. Who is Isis?" The shinobi questioned.

**(Airspace of Louisiana Bayou)**

Meanwhile Naruto and the rest waited and followed a bit with the Team as the Justice League escorted the rest of the Injustice League to a bubble construct. M'gann was having the bioship open up into a more convertible form since apparently Batman, Superman, Hal Jordan and Black Canary wanted to tag along with the team to get a more comprehensive report on what happened.

Before he went aboard the ship Ivy looked to Naruto and spoke up as she and the rest of the her fellow "leaguers" were hauled into the bubble.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" asked Naruto playing dumb.

"You know what." said Ivy not having it. "You somehow accessed nature's power. The Green's power, and was able to utilize it, but without draining from it. What are you?"

Naruto looked to the others including the League and his team and he knew after today that question was burning in their minds as well.

"I'll be keeping that to myself for now." said Naruto to Ivy.

"Well whatever you may be I get the feeling we will meet again." said Ivy as Captain Atom moved her along into the bubble that Green Lantern John had erupted. From there Naruto got on board to join the rest that were inside. The ship then flew at a slow base to what Naruto assumed to be Belle Reve and Arkham Asylum. They took this pace to give his clone time to catch up with Black Adam

"Not sure you want her to have an admirer." said Miss Martian.

"But I think she pretty much voiced what we are all curious about right now." said Artemis.

"Agreed." said Batman.

It was then that Hal walked up to Naruto.

"Kid you gotta give something here. It's a little late to put the genie back in the bottle." he whispered.

Naruto sighed and nodded.

"There has only been one other time I've used anywhere near my full power before. It was during what is now called the Betrassian Blitz. Named after the planet Betrassus. Because of its location in what is called Frontier space it would have taken a Green Lantern eighteen months to get there at full flight. And they were under attack so I had to unleash more of my power to get there." said Naruto.

"And this power comes from where?" asked Batman.

"My ring and my chakra network have a symbiotic link. My rings power increases as does my chakra." said Naruto.

"That part we know but somehow I doubt all of your people can suddenly erupt into having fire surround them." said Batman.

"How about you let him finish his story first Batman." said Black Canary. The dark knight could also see the team, Robin included, start to move to defend him.

"Very well." said Batman.

"Thank you for your permission. Though I don't need it." said Naruto directly at Batman. "Anyway after the Blitz I worried that some among the Guardians might see to use what I can do as a weapon. It should be a given that though the can be both military and police the kind of power should not be used lightly or be controlled by anyone whose intentions might become less about protection and more of control and possibly looking at me as a means of that control."

There was a moment of silence between everyone as the implications of what the young man just said sunk in.

"So then we can assume that you didn't use your full power then?" said Superman.

"No I didn't. Though I did use more it at that time as compared to when fighting Black Adam." said Naruto.

"So you're saying you just fought both Black Adam, Wotan, and took out the Injustice League and you still haven't tapped into your full potential?" asked Robin.

"As I said to the League after the fight with Amazo I tend to hold back my full power. Something that Superman himself does. Today was one of those days where holding back, to a degree was not an option." said Naruto.

"One other thing." said Black Canary. "This Blitz that happened on Betrassus. You got there right?"

"Yes." said Naruto with some suspicion on where she was going with this.

"And what was your role in it?" she asked.

Naruto was now nervous and scratched the back of his head.

"I did my part to help in the defense effort."

"That's a hell of a understatement." said Hal with a smirk. Naruto put his foot down hard on Hal's to get him to shut up.

"Ow!"

"Sorry. Wasn't looking where I was walking." said Naruto with gritted teeth.

"Looks like your clone just arrived behind the rest of the League." said Superboy. Sure enough they looked to left and saw the bubble that Naruto's clone made. Black Adam was inside it.

"Well it looks like your clone brought him without a hitch." said Superman. "Black Adam is even being cooperative. He's not even putting up a fight."

It was at that moment that the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Instantly Naruto tensed for a moment.

"Naruto are you okay?" asked Black Canary. Before anyone else could say anything the shinobi looked up at everyone.

"Excuse me." said Naruto would suddenly flew flew out of the hole in the roof of the morphed bioship and flew over to Zatara of all people who along with Captain Marvel was keeping a close eye on Wotan and now Black Adam inside the bubble. He flew parallel to them as they continued to travel

"Zatara may I speak with you for a moment?" he asked. Zatara was surprised at seeing this young man approach him but decided to indulge him.

"Captain I shall return shortly." Captain Marvel nodded knowing there was enough heroes to keep Adam or any of the others escaping.

"What can I do for you?" the magician asked.

"I was wondering if you knew a way to find something or in this case someone that is hidden by magic." said Naruto.

"I do know of such a spell but who is this person that you are trying find and why?" asked Zatara.

"I can't say. Not yet. I have to find the person." said Naruto.

"Then I'm afraid we are in a predicament. I can cast the spell easy enough but I have to inform the League of who it is and what the reason might be. It is the procedure of the matter." said Zatara. "And at any rate I can't do the spell right now. After the attacks by the plant monsters I have to help with the wounded and perhaps help with the damage that has been done. So I will be on call."

Naruto shook his head in frustration.

"Are there any independent mages that can help? One outside the League channels perhaps?"

Zatara took a breath before speaking.

"I should warn you he will want money up front before he decides to help you. If he does in fact agree to help you. And he will be difficult to find." he said.

"I'm okay with that." said Naruto.

"Very well." Zatara said with a sigh. "His name is John Constantine. He lives in what is called the House of Mystery. The location is constantly changing from one place to another but the locations that he frequently goes to when not on a job of his own is either a pub in Liverpool, England or Las Vegas."

"Thanks Zatara." said Naruto.

"Before you go can you at least tell me that whatever you are planning I only hope you have good intentions because some among the League aren't going to be happy about this. Batman to be more specifically." Zatara warned.

"I know. But this is something that I have to do. And you can relay that to the rest of the League." said Naruto. With that he flew back to the bioship.

"Aqualad I need to borrow that duffle bag if you don't mind."

"For what reason?" he asked.

"For what I need to do I might need some help from Fate." said Naruto.

"And what is this you are planning to do?" asked Batman suddenly.

"Right now I can't say. Not yet. Not until I come back at least." said Naruto.

"That isn't good enough." said the dark knight.

"It will have to be." Naruto walked up to Batman staring at him in the face. "All I can say right now is that I gave my word for this and I cannot and will not go back on it. That's the way I do things even though I tend to step on a few toes. Sometimes I'm right sometimes I'm wrong. But I have a feeling this time I'm in the former category. Now you will know after I am done because that is when I will know whether or not I'm successful. And to be honest don't ask permission. And I'm not asking now."

The two had a stare down before Black Canary moved in to put some space in between the two with Superboy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad standing behind Naruto. Miss Martian just watched the whole exchange while guiding the ship in shock. Robin sat and watched not knowing which side to go with.

"How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"A week. Maybe two." said Naruto.

"And do you feel that strongly about this?" she asked.

"Yes I do." said Naruto.

She took a breath and nodded.

"You will have to make a full report when you return. Is that clear?

Naruto nodded.

"Good luck then." she said.

"A sentiment shared by all of us." said Aqualad as he handed him the duffel bag. Naruto took it and nodded as he looked to the rest of his team, Black Canary, and Superman who smiled at him after Aqualad had said those words.

"Thank you. All of you for trusting me. And even you Batman for not. Rest assured that I will explain once I am done and return to the cave. You have my word."

And with that Naruto flew out once again from the hole in the sky to parts unknown.

"Black Canary." said Batman with him sounding more than a little pissed off. "You should not have given him authority to leave. I am in still in charge of giving missions as I recall."

"No disrespect intended Batman but shove it up your ass." said Black Canary. "The team took down the Injustice League and that was done in large part, without taking anything away from the rest, because of him. I think he has earned to the right to some leeway."

"Yeah considering that he did it in style. Makes me wonder why he is on this team and not the League." said Kid Flash.

"One of the many questions that need asking." said Superman who had remained silent up until now. "But for now be proud that we managed to end this threat and hopefully the secret society of supervillains along with it."

The rest took stock in that but Batman, Robin, and even Black Canary couldn't help but hear a seed of doubt from the man of steel.

**(Unknown Location)**

"Impressive. The plant creatures have proven themselves to useful potential weapons. More importantly the so called heroes now believe our secret society to have been revealed and crushed. With the Injustice League, serving as our proxies, we are now once again free to operate with impunity." said the voice of Vandal Savage turning to his fellow colleagues.

Stepping with him were Lex Luthor, Ra's al Ghul, Queen Bee, Ocean Master, Klarion the Witch Boy, Dr. Strange, and the Brain.

"And shadows still conceal our Light." Vandal said with a smile.

"Perhap Vandal." said Queen Bee. "But potential in this case is a double edged sword for now we have a new problem."

The video image turns from an image of the the Injustice League to the fights that the mysterious Green Lantern had with both Black Adam and Wotan.

"Can someone explain to me how this super ninja of a Green Lantern slipped by us?" said Klarion.

"That is just one of the many questions we have." said Queen Bee. "Too many questions and no answers. And after today we cannot simply ignore it after his display of power."

"While I don't deny his abilities are we not as your surfaces say jumping the gun?" said Ocean Master. "As powerful as he may be he is still a young man on a team with children."

"Who also fared better than we had assumed they would." Luthor answered. "After today he cannot be ignored."

"Knowledge is power." said the Brain. "Up until now we knew the players of the game. Now we have an unknown factor."

"For which we have no idea of his weaknesses. Whether they would be physical or psychological." said Dr. Strange.

"What we don't know will destroy us. We must find out more about our newest enemy. We have already seen his combat abilities but we do not know the full extent of his powers." said Ra's al Ghul turning to Vandal. "I recommend we ask our new allies about this Green Lantern and find out whatever we can if there is any information on him at all."

"Agreed." said Vandal. "And I already have. They have allies besides ourselves known as the Sinestro Corps. A reverse version of the Green Lantern Corps who are more inclined to our ways then their counterparts. It is time we expanded our list of allies and gain the information we need."

He turned to the still image of the Lantern in question that was engulfed in green flame.

"Whatever secrets he hides shall be illuminated by our light."

**End Chapter**

_Well this took far longer than even I wanted. I hate myself everyday I'm not writing this story but life has a tendency to throw a lot at you. All I can say is yes I am alive and I am still not giving up this story no matter how long it takes. Thank you all for continuing to read this story. The support that it has gotten has been beyond my wildest hopes._

_A quick update that while I haven't been the best at keeping up with timely updates I do keep my ear to the ground. Which is why I am going to create an account at Archive of Our Own with this story after hearing some of the issues going with . Don't worry though as I continue to write chapters both versions will be updated for both websites._

_Side note. What happened with Naruto learning about Isis is him using Ninshu to gain better understanding. It just so happens that in the Naruto verse this happens more often in battle. Because you know it's exciting._

_See you all next time. I only hope it will be much sooner. And Happy Halloween._


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